Chaos Theory
by Goodkat2010
Summary: In a dynamic system, two points, no matter how close they are to one another, will eventually be very far apart as long as there is a small difference between them. So when the Riddle's gardener decides to take action, how will that small change have a large impact on our favorite hero and the greater wizarding world? Rated T.
1. In Which Frank Bryce Takes Action

**Chapter 1: In Which Frank Bryce Takes Action**

 **D** **isclaimer: I own nothing because...you know...I'm not a literary genius.**

The villagers of Little Hangleton held many prejudices and misconceptions about their fellow inhabitants in the village. Any individual who had a pint at _The Hanged Man_ , the village pub, would hear all types of rumors about the people in the little village.

"I hear Mr. Davies has himself a girlfriend in the city. Poor Mrs. Davies doesn't have a clue…"

"If you ask me, Miss Taylor is going to turn into an old maid. She is so unkind to people…"

"Did you meet that new man? Mr. Khawaja? Just moved here from Pakistan….bet he's running from some kind of legal trouble…"

Almost no one was immune from the rumors and gossip. However, one individual was the favorite topic of conversation and it just so happened that all the rumors about him were untrue.

"He is an old hermit. Never cared for anyone. Came back from the war and murdered the Riddle family."

"He got away with it too. Devious killer he is. Probably learned it fighting the Nazis."

"Luckily for us the old coot can't hardly move anymore. Imagine it will only be a couple more years till he is permanently in a wheelchair. On that day, I know I will sleep more soundly."

* * *

Frank Bryce was, by nature, a solitary man. He grew up in the neighboring town of Great Hangleton as a quiet, thoughtful child of a single mother. Frank was always slow to make friends and much preferred walking alone through the countryside over playing with other children. Children can be quite cruel and growing up without a father made him the object of ridicule among his peers.

Frank's father, Frederick Bryce, died fighting in the Great War in a ditch in France. Frederick had left his pregnant wife saying that he needed to do his duty and serve his country. He told Frank's mother that he felt destined for something in France. It was a short three months later that Frank's mother received a letter talking about Frederick's heroism in battle and how his sacrifice had saved five other men. Frederick's last letter home talked about his sense of duty, and how he felt like he was in France for some cosmic purpose that was soon to come. In honor of his valor, Frederick was awarded the Military Cross. It was with this sense of purpose, duty, and divine fate that Frank grew up. His prized possession being a shadowbox containing his father's Military Cross, which he kept on his bedside table.

Frank lived a mostly solitary life in Great Hangleton until his 19th summer; when he met Emily. Frank was walking down the road in Great Hangleton on a warm summer day when he spotted her; a beautiful, petite brunette walking toward the little general store. Frank stood frozen to the spot and gazed at her as she turned to walk into the store. He had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life and he quickly ran into the general store after her.

Frank had no plan as he hurried through the door of the general store. He had very little experience talking to people, let alone a girl he was trying to woo. He quickly glanced around the store and saw her disappearing behind a display of food jars. Frank made his way over to the display, finally deciding on a simple introduction of "Hello". However, as he turned the corner of the display, his elbow hit several of the jars. Before he could stop it, one of the jars fell off the display and crashed to the floor, spilling pickled beets all over the place. He gazed down at the mess in horror and felt his face go bright red.

As Frank stared at the floor, he heard a soft laugh coming from down the aisle. He glanced up and saw the pretty brunette covering her mouth to hide her laughter. Embarrassed, Frank looked back down and quickly tried to back away from the situation. Just as he was about to turn and run for it, he felt a gentle touch on his forearm.

"Are you alright?" A caring voice asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little clumsy." He replied, gazing up into her soft brown eyes. "I apologize for disturbing you."

"No problem at all. I'm Emily."

"Uh…Frank. Are you new in town?"

"Just moved here with my family. Could really use someone to show me around..." Frank could hear the suggestive hint in her voice. He could have been mistaken but he also thought he heard a hopeful tone there as well.

Not allowing himself to get tongue-tied, Frank quickly responded, "I would be happy to show you the best spots."

"Great!"

* * *

After that initial meeting and for the next three years, Frank's solitary life turned into a social life. Emily introduced Frank to friends, parties, and, his favorite, dancing. Frank loved dancing with Emily. Not because he was the most coordinated or suave dancer, but because Emily had the most brilliant smile when she was dancing. Frank could spend hours holding Emily close or swinging her around the dance hall as long as she kept that smile on her face. It was during the Christmas dance of 1939 that Frank held Emily close and asked her to marry him. She immediately said, "Yes", and they spent the rest of the night twirling away with only eyes for each other. The wedding would have to wait, though.

June 1940 and the United Kingdom had to abandon mainland Europe at Dunkirk. France surrendered and the UK stood alone against the Nazi Third Reich. Following in the steps of his father, Frank enlisted in the Army and was shipped off to Egypt to fight. Frank had dreams of being a hero, saving a company of men, and living up to his father's legacy. He dreamed of returning home to Emily with a chest full of medals and making the whole of Hangleton proud. Those dreams, however, did not hold up to the harsh realities of war. During his first battle, a small engagement between his company and the Italians, Frank saw friends of his torn to pieces; crying out for their mothers and wives in the hot desert sun. He was surrounded by hot, exploding metal and loud noises from every direction. When the sun finally set, the Italians had been pushed back but Frank could not stop his hands from shivering.

This experience changed Frank and caused him to come up with a new "dream" for the war. Get home to Emily. No matter what he had to do or how he had to do it, he would return home to Emily. His father's legacy be damned, Emily was much more important than anything else. He could not let himself die. He would lay down every night and thank God he had made it through another day. He would kiss Emily's photograph and fall asleep thinking about holding her tight while a slow jazz tune hummed away. His frequent letters to Emily spoke of none of this. He would always tell her that he was "doing well" and hadn't "seen much action". He would tell her that he loved her, to check on his mom for him, and, most importantly, that he would be home to take her dancing as soon as possible.

This last promise, sadly, would not be kept. Emily moved to London soon after Frank left, to work in the city. During the winter of 1940, the German bombing campaign over Britain intensified with a focus on civilian targets. On a cloudy, cold night in February, a German bomb struck the building where Emily's flat was located. All 20 people in the building, including Emily, died before a call for help was even uttered.

Confusion hit Frank first when he received a letter from Emily's parents instead of Emily. That confusion quickly turned to denial, agony, and anger as the reality of Emily's death set in. Never again would Frank hold Emily close. Never again would he get to dance with her. Never again would he see that smile or hear her laugh during a particularly fast tune. His world shattered, and he did not care whether he lived or died in that moment. All Frank wanted was revenge.

Frank's opportunity for revenge came three days later when his company was ordered to attack the Italian line. Frank was the first out of his foxhole, but a sniper's bullet hit him in the knee when he was only 100 feet from his own foxhole. He tried to continue on, but eventually collapsed from the pain and heat.

Frank awoke in a hospital room in Cairo. The doctors told him that he would need a lot of rehabilitation, but he would keep his leg. However, for him, the war was over. Frank spent his days in the hospital feeling ashamed and angry. Ashamed at himself for not living up to his father's legacy, and angry at everyone else because his Emily was gone. During this time, Frank retreated to his basic nature of solitude. He barely spoke to anyone and avoided groups of people whenever possible.

Frank returned home a couple of years later and packed away all of his photos of Emily into his army footlocker. He could not take the pain associated with looking into her smiling face. Almost as an afterthought, Frank tossed his father's Military Cross on top of the pile of photos. Frank found work in Little Hangleton as the gardener for Mr. and Mrs. Riddle. The job included a small cottage on the property, and Frank dedicated his life to the upkeep of the manor and having as little human contact as possible. In fact, it was his dedication to the manor, which found Frank standing in the second floor hallway of that same manor on a warm August night listening to two people plotting murder.

 **"My Lord, Bertha Jorkins's disappearance will not go unnoticed for long and if we proceed, if I murder –" said Wormtail.**

 **"If?" whispered the second voice. "If? If you follow the plan, Wormtail, the Ministry need never know that anyone else has died. You will do it quietly and without fuss; I only wish that I could do it myself, but in my present condition… Come, Wormtail, one more death and our path to Harry Potter is clear. I am not asking you to do it alone. By that time, my faithful servant will have rejoined us –".**

Frank's heart was thumping in his chest. These two were talking about murdering someone else and this Harry Potter was in danger. Much of what they were saying seemed to be in code. Obviously the terms "magic", "Quidditch", and "wizards" covered the details of their nefarious plot. With a slight tremor, Frank straightened his back and made a decision. Quietly, he turned and made his way down the stairs. As he reached the first floor, he realized that he left at just the right time as a large snake slithered down the hallway right past where he had been standing.

As he turned toward the kitchen, Frank heard a hissing coming from the upstairs room and had a crazy thought. This man, whoever he was, could talk to snakes.

"No need to be quiet anymore Wormtail. Nagini says that the house is abandoned. She can only smell the gardener and we will take care of him tomorrow."

With a slight shudder, Frank continued into the kitchen and out the back door. He hurried down the slope the manor stood on and walked around the small graveyard at the base of the hill. As fast as his knee would allow him to go, Frank walked into the center of Little Hangleton, straight to the old telephone box. Frank picked up the receiver, placed his finger in the nine hole of the rotary phone and rotated it around. He repeated the action two more times…

"Hangleton Police. Sergeant Pryor speaking. Please state the nature of your emergency." The voice over the phone stated.

"Hello, this is Frank Bryce, the gardener for the Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton. There are two men in the old Riddle manor and I overheard them talking about a murder they committed and one they are going to commit." Frank released in one breath.

"Mr. Bryce… Are you sure that is what you heard?" Sergeant Pryor asked.

Frank huffed. "Yes, I'm sure that's what I heard."

At that moment, Inspector Wilson walked into the call center. "Who is that, Sergeant?"

The Sergeant lowered the phone receiver and covered it with his hand. "Old Frank Bryce in Little Hangleton."

"Oh yeah? What does that old murderer want?"

"Says there are some men in the Riddle manor talking about murder."

"Ha…is he sure it isn't just himself thinking those thoughts? Crazy old man is probably going insane and wants to relive the old days."

Sergeant Pryor lifted the phone back to his ear. "Mr. Bryce, would you mind describing those men and some more of what they talked about?"

"I didn't get a look at them. They talked about killing a woman named Bertha Jorkins and about planning to harm a Harry Potter." Frank replied. "I don't know what else they were saying. They were speaking in code. Talking about magic, wizards, and something called Quidditch."

Sergeant Pryor could not stop the snort from escaping his nose, but attempted to cover it with a cough. "Ahem...sorry, Mr. Bryce, hold on one second." Then, to Inspector Wilson who was taking a long sip from his coffee mug, "He says he didn't see them but they were talking about wizards and Quidditch…"

This made Inspector Wilson spit out his coffee and adopt a very serious tone. "Pryor, tell Bryce that someone will be by to pick him up and to stay there. Impress upon him not to go back to the manor. That his life could be in danger. Then tell the closest constable to swing by, pick Bryce up, and bring him straight to me. Do you understand?"

Pryor nodded and quickly followed the Inspector's instructions. When he was finished, he looked at the Inspector and asked the obvious question. "What is this all about, sir?"

"This just came down from the Home Office last week. Any suspicious person talking about "wizards", "Quidditch", "wands", or any magical nonsense is to be considered dangerous. They should be avoided at all costs and a call should be placed to the Home Office. They will send someone to deal with it immediately.

Twenty minutes later and Frank Bryce was sitting in a police interrogation room for the second time in his life. He had not been told what was going on or why he had been picked up. He figured that the police would try and pin something on him again like they had with the Riddle murders. Maybe, he thought to himself, he would plead guilty to whatever they said. At least then he could get some peace and quiet in prison. It was as he was thinking this that the door to the interrogation room opened and four people entered.

The obvious leader of this group was a square-jawed woman with grey hair and a monocle. She gave the appearance of someone who was not to be crossed and walked into the room with purpose. Following behind her, was a middle-aged, unremarkable man with light brown hair; a tall, broad-shouldered black man with a gold earring; and a young woman with dark eyes and a heart-shaped face.

"Hello Mr. Bryce. My name is Amelia Bones and I'm from the Home Office. Now I would like you to describe everything you heard and witnessed tonight. Please leave nothing, no matter how seemingly irrelevant, out."

* * *

Two hours later, Frank startled himself awake. He looked around and realized that he was in his living room and must have fallen asleep in his chair. Frank shook his head and chuckled to himself for the first time in many years. He had been having the weirdest dream. Something about wizards...but even as he was thinking that, his memory of the dream was slipping away.

Frank stretched, stood up, and started walking toward his bedroom. He did not notice that he had left his cane behind. Without a second thought, Frank walked into his bedroom, past his bed, and opened the bedroom closet door. He quickly found the old army footlocker, pulled it out, and placed it on the bed.

Slowly, Frank lifted the lid on the old box. Sitting on top was his father's Military Cross. He took the shadowbox over to his bedside table and carefully put it down. Walking back to the footlocker, Frank looked down at the rest of the contents. He smiled as Emily stared up at him from several pictures. Picking up the top picture, the same one he stared at every night in North Africa, Frank walked back into the living room. Walking over to his old radio, he switched it on. The radio sizzled to life and a slow jazz song filled the cottage.

Frank smiled down at the photo, and a single tear ran down his cheek. Without thinking, he began to sway to the music and shared a final dance with his former love.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Hey everyone! Was reading through Goblet of Fire again and got this plot idea in my head. It just wouldn't leave so I decided to write a story on it.**

 **This is going to be an AU story starting at the beginning of the Goblet of Fire. Pairings will be Harry/Daphne, Neville/Susan, and Ron/Hermione. Not really married to any of those but Harry/Daphne at the moment. I promise to keep this story as close to book canon as possible (as opposed to the bits I'm changing) but I make no promises on it being accurate to every little piece of information JKR has released over the years. Also, probably will get the standard, "you are making it too easy on them" review. All I will say is that Harry succeeded with a lot less stuff going his way. So yeah, when I change some more things to go his way, it will likely be easier.**

 **This should be a pretty straightforward story that will be between 5-10 chapters. I will try to post an update a week. Currently I don't have a Beta and am self-proofreading. If you want to step up and volunteer to Beta, PM me. I know I could use the help in improving my writing.**


	2. In Which Amelia Bones Visits Privet Dr

**Chapter 2: In Which Amelia Bones Visits Privet Drive**

 **D** **isclaimer: I own nothing because...you know...I'm not a literary genius.**

As Amelia Bones walked past Number 2 Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey, she could not help but think about her good fortune over the past 12 hours. Not only had she captured a man who the entire wizarding world thought was dead, and cast serious doubt on the guilt of a man who sat in Azkaban for 12 years, but she had also seen, fought, and defeated 'He Who Must Not Be Named'. Granted, she thought to herself, he was in a weakened form and had not been defeated for good, but she still counted that as extremely fortunate. She realized that her meticulous planning and search for the truth about Sirius Black's escape from Hogwarts had paid off.

The Bones family was once a very large and powerful family in Wizarding Britain. Amelia's ancestors had been wizards and witches of significance with several Ministers of Magic and Hogwarts Headmasters included in the family tree. While there were still some fourth or fifth cousins sprinkled around, the number of core Bones family members had been whittled down to four: herself, her brother Willard, his wife Jennifer, and her niece Susan. All the others had passed on or, in the case of her parents and her other brother's entire family, murdered by You Know Who. Even in their weakened state, the Bones family still showed its power and influence through Amelia's role as the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Amelia entered Hogwarts at the age of 11 knowing of her family history and their role in the society. She went to Hogwarts in search of knowledge and experience to assist her in fulfilling her duty to her family in Britain. Amelia, the oldest of the three Bones children, was already planning to enter the Ministry and add her name to the list of famous Bones in history. She even had aspirations of sitting in the Minister's chair someday.

This attitude caused her father to declare, with a chuckle, that Amelia would "be the first Slytherin Bones in a century". This statement notwithstanding, the Bones family was not known for being sorted in a single house. Amelia's father had been a Gryffindor, her mother a Hufflepuff, and countless family members throughout their history were sorted into every house at Hogwarts. In the end, when Amelia put the Sorting Hat on her head, it asked her but one question. "You are told something you know is not true by someone in a position of authority. If you accept the answer and move on, you will never know the truth but you will be rewarded. What do you do?"

"RAVENCLAW!" The hat yelled a half second later. Amelia's search for knowledge and truth won over her ambition/cunning and her house was chosen for her. She had never even considered accepting the answer but still trying to find out the truth on her own. To her, the idea of even deceptively accepting a known falsehood was so foreign that it made her skin crawl. Amelia learned a lesson about herself that day. She would work as hard as she possibly could to find the truth, even if that search for the truth cost her something professionally or personally. This lesson followed her out of Hogwarts and into her career as an auror. She worked tirelessly on every case she was assigned. She would work nights and weekends, searching for every clue, following every lead; trying desperately to piece together the puzzle.

She made plenty of sacrifices along the way… A perfect example being that she was not helping the "Bones Family Extinction Crisis" in any way. She did not have time nor need for any companionship. Her work was her main focus, and her outlet from work was a couple of close friends and a niece she could occasionally spoil. Either way, her sacrifices and work ethic got results. Her close rate for cases was a full ten percentage points higher than any of her colleagues throughout her career. The dedication garnered positive attention and she rapidly rose the ranks of the department; eventually attaining her current position as head. As the Head of the DMLE, Amelia approached the management of her department in the same manner she had approached her entire career: focus on finding the truth.

So last June, when the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, returned from Hogwarts with a story about a disappearing fugitive from a locked professor's office with no wand, resources, and about a hundred dementors between him and freedom…she had to go investigate. Amelia had been frustrated with Fudge since Sirius Black escaped the previous July.

"Amelia, Black is an escaped convict! Not a common criminal who needs a trial. The dementors will catch Black and immediately administer the kiss. There is no need for the aurors to be out looking for him."

Since that 'conversation', Amelia's aurors had been forbidden from even investigating Black's disappearance. However, with Sirius' escape right past the dementors and the dementors subsequent banishment back to Azkaban, Amelia was free to perform her own inquiry. Only two days after the term ended, Amelia was sitting in Dumbledore's office asking questions about his disappearance.

"Dumbledore, this does not look good for the Ministry. Sirius Black escapes Azkaban, is recaptured inside Hogwarts' grounds, and escapes again. Fudge is sweating and trying to perform as much damage control as possible. It is a mess."

Dumbledore sighed. "No one is more upset to see a guilty man run free than I am, Amelia. I am sorry that the Ministry is in such a bad position. However, Fudge did not heed my advice about not trusting the dementors."

"Dumbledore, we have known each other for years. I do not care how embarrassed the Ministry is or how incompetent Fudge was. I am here to find out the truth. I highly doubt much happens in this school without you knowing about it. Fudge was also spouting something about a few third years with scrambled minds. These third years, one of which was Harry Potter, said that Sirius Black was innocent and Peter Pettigrew was alive? What do you know about this, Dumbledore?"

"Ahh...my dear Amelia. You would not believe me if I told you…"

"Try me. You will find that there is a lot I'm willing to believe if it answers some of my outstanding questions. Do not forget that my brother, Edgar, was a member of your little organization. Sadly, his family and my parents paid dearly for his association with you. Be that as it may, Edgar was a Gryffindor and only two years older than Potter and Black. He talked of them as if they were brothers, not just friends. I've always held lingering doubts about how someone could turn on a person they were that close to, even with the influence of the Dark Arts. Now, I ask again, what do you know about Sirius Black's escape from Hogwarts?"

With a heavy sigh, Dumbledore straightened in his chair and began to tell Amelia the entire story. He discussed James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew becoming animagi. How Peter, aka 'Wormtail', had avoided capture and framed Sirius all in the same deed in the middle of that muggle street. How Peter had spent the next twelve years hiding as the Weasley's pet rat. And finally, how Peter and Sirius had both escaped from Hogwarts just a week ago. When Dumbledore was finished, Amelia leaned back. She took off her monocle and let out a long breath as she started wiping it clean.

"No one will believe it. I'm not even sure I totally believe it without more evidence. Are you sure the students' minds weren't tampered with? The coincidence of Peter selecting a wizarding family who just so happens to have a son that becomes best friends with Harry Potter…it is hard to believe."

"I assure you, Amelia. The entire story is true and all of the students' minds are perfectly fine."

Amelia let out a long sigh. "Well then, I have some work to do."

* * *

Amelia walked away from Hogwarts with a new sense of purpose but with very few ideas on how to accomplish that purpose. She did not have the political clout to override a Minister of Magic seeking to change the focus from an escaped convict to the upcoming Quidditch World Cup. Similarly, she did not have the resources to search for a rat who could be anywhere in the world by this point. Amelia went back to her office, wrote everything she learned down in her dragon hide notebook, added 'Wormtail' to the list of known aliases of the department's 'wizards of interest', and began her preparations for the Quidditch World Cup.

A hundred thousand wizards and witches coming to the World Cup with around 90 percent being foreign. Ninety thousand more people on the island who could slip up and expose the Wizarding World to the muggles. Ninety thousand people who were even more unaccustomed to British muggle culture than the average British wizard or witch. It was going to be an organizational nightmare full of overtime and popping around the islands putting out small fires.

The aurors were tasked with solving issues that did not require only a simple memory modification. If someone accidentally said or did something odd to a muggle, the Obliviators would handle that. The Ministry put out guidance from the 'Home Office' that people who heard strange things should call a phone number. This number was linked to the Accidental Magic Reversal Department who would sort out the situation. The aurors were there for the big issues where people could get hurt.

* * *

So, on that warm August night, when the call came in from the Hangleton Police to the 'Home Office', an overworked young wizard named Thomas in the Accidental Magic Reversal Department took the call. He was prepared to just send out an Obliviator to take care of everyone's memories when the police officer told him these people had claimed to have killed Bertha Jorkins. Thomas was shocked. He knew Bertha from the Ministry and thought she was on vacation. His shock only grew when the officer stated that they were also after Harry Potter.

This was not a normal call. He wrote down the information, told the officer that a representative would be there shortly, folded up the parchment of details, and sent it as a paper airplane to the DMLE. Thomas barely had time to think further on this as in the next second another call came in from somewhere in Scotland where a wizard had tried to enchant a mailbox.

Amelia Bones was just packing up to head home after another 12-hour day when Senior Auror Robards burst into her office.

"Ma'am, we have an urgent request from AMRD. Seems a muggle overheard some wizards talking about murdering Bertha Jorkins and going after Harry Potter."

Amelia straightened. "Where were they located?"

"Hangleton, Ma'am."

"Robards, grab Shacklebolt and his trainee. We are going to check this out."

Less than twenty minutes later, Amelia and her aurors walked into the Hangleton Police Station with conjured Home Office credentials. They were quickly shown into the interrogation room where Frank Bryce was seated.

"Hello Mr. Bryce. My name is Amelia Bones and I'm from the Home Office. Now, I would like you to describe everything you heard and witnessed tonight. Please leave nothing, no matter how seemingly irrelevant, out."

Frank immediately relaxed and began to tell his story. Amelia could tell that Frank was not used to talking to people, but she listened very attentively to his entire story. Amelia only interrupted to ask clarifying questions about the manor's layout and exact location of the individuals. The only other reaction that Amelia gave to the story was a slight tension in her muscles when Frank told her that one man was called 'Wormtail', called the other man 'my Lord', and that individual seemed to be talking to a snake. When he was finished, Amelia thanked him and asked him to show them where the manor was located. He nodded his assent and started to stand.

"Shacklebolt, I trust you can _inform_ our colleagues outside this door about what has happened tonight?"

Kingsley Shacklebolt nodded and took his wand out of its holster. He moved outside the room and gathered the officers together to modify their memories of the night.

Frank was still struggling to get out of the chair when Amelia noticed his distress.

"What is the problem, Mr. Bryce?"

"Just the old war wound." Frank said gruffly.

"Perhaps I can help with that." Amelia said and before Frank could object, she had her wand out and waved it over Frank's knee. Immediate relief came over Frank who was so used to the constant knee pain that he was taken aback by its sudden disappearance. So taken aback that he didn't immediately freak out about what she had done.

"Wow…thank you, Ma'am. Uhh…how did you do that?"

"State secret, Mr. Bryce. State secret. Would you kindly show us the location of the manor?"

* * *

One hour later, Amelia, Robards, Shacklebolt, and Auror Trainee Tonks were hidden behind bushes just outside the Riddle Manor discussing a plan of attack. The manor appeared dark and empty from this location. Amelia started giving out orders.

"Alright, here's the plan. I want you three to spread out on each side of the house. Find a stone and let's create some wards. I want anti-disapparition, anti-portkey, and anti-animagus. Got that?"

"Are you sure, Ma'am? We aren't even sure who is in there." Robards asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. There may be a serious criminal in there and I don't want to take a chance that they escape. The Ministry can't have another escaped convict running around right before the World Cup. Trust me…

"Once those ward stones are down and created, come back here. We will enter the kitchen in standard 2-by-2, quietly. We slowly clear the bottom floor and set up detection spells to cover our backs. It is getting late so I'm hoping our suspects are going to sleep. Now go."

The aurors spread out to perform their duties. As Amelia worked on her own ward stone, she took a few heavy breaths to try and calm down. This was her opportunity. If Peter was really in this house, she had the opportunity to right a horrible injustice. She was still wary, though. This other individual, "my Lord" who was a Parseltongue, could only be one person. She held no illusions that she could defeat You Know Who in a duel. She hoped that the element of surprise would give them an advantage. She had not called for more aurors for this very reason and hoped she was making the right decision. The others returned a short while later and Amelia finished sealing up the wards.

The group made their way to the back kitchen door and proceeded to enter the manor. There was no noise inside the manor as they proceeded to clear the kitchen, dining room, parlor, living room, and entryway. Tonks kept sentry at the foot of the stairs while everyone else placed detection spells on each doorway. With their backs protected, the four carefully made their way up the grand staircase to the second floor.

Slowly, they crept down the hall toward the room Frank had described as containing the two men. There was a dim light coming from the slightly cracked door. With a silent hand signal, Shacklebolt stood watch over the door while the other rooms on the second floor were cleared and sealed. So far, the light from the door was the only indication that someone was in the manor. With painstaking slowness, the four aurors stacked up at the door with Shacklebolt in the lead. At Amelia's nod, Shacklebolt cast a silencing charm over the door and slowly pushed it open.

Looking inside the room, Shacklebolt could see a short, fat man sleeping on an old fainting couch near the dying fire. Next to him, curled up on the hearth of the fire was a gigantic snake. The snake's face was covered by a giant armchair with the back to the door, facing the fire. A couple more hand signals and all four aurors knew of the layout of the room. Just as they were about to move into the room, a cold, harsh voice rose from the armchair.

"WORMTAIL! WORMTAIL! Wake up, I'm cold."

Knowing that the time for action was now, Amelia quickly counted to three on her hand and the four aurors burst into the room with the shout of "AURORS, WANDS DOWN!" The cold voice cursed loudly. The other man, Wormtail, let out a very high pitched squeak and proceeded to attempt to dive under the couch. This was almost comical because the man was way too large to fit under the couch and ended up with only his head making it under the couch. The snake slithered directly towards the aurors opening its mouth preparing to strike.

Shacklebolt sent a cutting curse which hit the snake and Tonks immediately banished the snake towards the fire. Robards advanced toward Wormtail and almost lazily stunned and body bound him.

Amelia made for the voice in the armchair immediately after entering the room. She knew her aurors would take care of the other two, but she needed to get to 'He Who Must Not Be Named' as quickly as possible. When she turned the corner and saw what was sitting in the armchair, she froze. Sitting in the chair was something with the shape of a human child but a face that was flat, snakelike, and had red eyes. This momentary hesitation was almost disastrous as the thing raised its wand and shouted "AVADA KEDAVRA".

Amelia was snapped out of her shock when the words began. Her years of training kicked in and she dove to the right, the green spell just barely missing her. Amelia landed and rolled up; casting a reductor curse. The figure in the armchair must have been drained from casting the killing curse as its wand hung loosely at its side. The reductor curse hit the figure and tore a hole in its chest. A piercing scream filled the room and a black phantom rose from the body. It gave a final snarl before flying through the window and out into the night.

"STATUS REPORT!" Amelia huffed out trying to calm her heart after her near death experience.

"One bound and ready for transport. Snake is dead, landed on the fire." Robards answered. "What was that black ghost thing? When the snake died, a black mist rose from it like that, but it vanished instead of running away."

"Save it for the report. We need to get back to the Ministry and get that man talking."

"Ma'am, I think this is Peter Pettigrew…I recognize him from…" Robards started.

"I know. Get him ready for transport. I want to ask him some questions."

* * *

Yes, it had been a very fortunate half-day for Amelia Bones. She was now strolling up to the door of Number 4 Privet Drive, flanked by her auror guards. Wormtail was currently sitting in a Ministry anti-animagus holding cell while all the necessary forms were filled out to administer Veritaserum to him for their interrogation. Amelia was checking in on Harry Potter and was about to get his side of the story of Black, Pettigrew, and that night at Hogwarts last June.

Amelia Bones may have been having a fortunate day, but Vernon Dursley was not as lucky. His nephew had been home for two months now; filling his home with his un-naturalness. His wife had insisted on the whole family following his son's diet; which meant he had a quarter of a grapefruit as his only breakfast. Then, just this morning, he had received an envelope covered with stamps. The postman had hand-delivered it to ask who had sent such a letter. The answer, which he would never tell the postman, was another freak contacting him about his nephew. Now he was questioning his nephew about the letter.

"… **send us your answer…in the normal way." Vernon scowled. "What does she mean, 'the normal way'?" he spat.**

" **Normal for us," said Harry, and before his uncle could stop him, he added, "you know, owl post. That's what's normal for wizards."**

 **Vernon was outraged. "How many times do I have to tell you not to mention that un-naturalness under my roof?" he hissed, his face now a rich plum color. "You stand there, in the clothes Petunia and I have put on your ungrateful back -"**

" **Only after Dudley finished with them," said Harry coldly…**

" **I will not be spoken to like that!" said Uncle Vernon, trembling with rage.**

It was at this moment that the doorbell rang for the second time that morning. Barely trying to suppress his rage, Vernon stormed into the entryway and tore open the door.

"I told YOU that I don't KNOW who sent…" Vernon abruptly stopped as he realized that it was not the postman at the door. Instead there was a stern woman flanked by two middle-aged men. "Who are you?" He stated, staring at their outfits. All three were wearing professional business attire. They looked like government officials of some kind.

"Hello, Mr. Dursley. I need to speak with Mr. Harry Potter. We are from the Department of Magical…" Amelia started.

"There is no one here by that name." Vernon said sternly. His rage building back up. "I don't want any more freakishness in my house!" He attempted to shove the door closed in their face. He found himself unable to move the door further than halfway shut.

"Mr. Dursley." Amelia said with a dangerous undertone. "We know that Mr. Potter is here. We are part of the law enforcement arm at the Ministry of Mag…"

"Don't use that word!" Mr. Dursley interrupted.

"Fine." Agreed Amelia. "I won't 'use that word', but we need to talk to Mr. Potter right now. As I said, we are part of the law enforcement branch of his world."

Mr. Dursley looked like he could not decide what to do. Amelia could tell that he was not sure about having three more wizards in his house. However, there was something else. When Amelia had mentioned they were law enforcement, Mr. Dursley's eyebrows had raised and he looked almost…hopeful. Amelia had taken an immediate dislike to Mr. Dursley, but she now wondered about Harry Potter's childhood with this man.

"He's in the living room." Mr. Dursley grunted out and moved out of the way of the three officials.

Amelia and her guards stepped into the house and towards the room Mr. Dursley was pointing at. Down the hallway, Amelia spotted a very thin, horse-faced woman unsuccessfully trying to hide the largest boy Amelia had ever seen. He appeared wider than he was tall and was dangerously close to not being able to walk down the hallway without turning sideways. Upon seeing them, this boy ducked and proceeded to put his hands over his rather large rear end.

Amelia walked into the living room and immediately spotted a skinny teenage boy. He had untidy black hair with glasses that hid brilliant green eyes. Above those glasses and just visible was the signature lightning bolt scar. The boy was wearing a very large sweatshirt that hung below his knees and very baggy jeans. He looked like a child playing dress-up in his father's clothes. Amelia immediately made the connection between this child and the boy in the hallway. The Dursleys were making Harry Potter wear their child's old clothes. This did not do anything to improve her opinion of the Dursleys.

"Mr. Potter." Harry looked up at Amelia apprehensively at these words. "I must talk with you about your experience at Hogwarts this past June."

At these words a look of panic flashed across his face before being schooled into a face of ignorant innocence.

"Please, sit down" Amelia indicated to the couch, conjuring a chair for herself in the process. At this action, Amelia heard Vernon Dursley give a low growl. It seemed that he had followed them into the room and was standing by the door watching them. His face was becoming purple and he looked quite angry.

Amelia ignored this and continued. "We currently have a Mr. Peter Pettigrew in the Ministry Holding Cells. He was caught in the presence of 'He Who Must Not Be Named'. This obviously has raised serious doubts about Sirius Black's guilt." Harry had started to look excited at the words "Peter Pettigrew" and was now looking as if he would burst if he did not get to speak.

"Sirius is innocent! Peter was the one who betrayed my parents and killed those muggles."

"WHAT?!" Vernon roared. "YOU'VE BEEN THREATENING US WITH YOUR GODFA…" Mr. Dursley immediately fell silent as he was hit with a spell from Amelia. He continued to gesture wildly and his face was turning into a very good imitation of an eggplant.

"Now, I would like to hear, in your own words, what happened this previous June. Professor Dumbledore has told me what happened. But he was not there for all of it; I would like to hear it from you."

Harry began to relax and tell his story. Starting with leaving Hagrid's hut and chasing after Ron to the Shrieking Shack, Harry recounted everything that happened. He stopped short when he reached the part in the story where he, Ron, and Hermione woke up in the Hospital Wing. Harry did not know how to proceed.

Amelia, noticing his distress, started speaking. "You two." She said, gesturing to her guards. "Go outside and secure the perimeter."

The two men nodded and left the room. Vernon looked like he wanted to protest this action, no doubt afraid about what the neighbors would think. However, he was still silenced from earlier and could only turn a slightly darker shade of purple.

Once the front door closed, Amelia began speaking again. "Mr. Potter…Harry…it appears that a great miscarriage of justice has been done to Sirius Black. Now, I am certain that what you had to do to rescue him may not be strictly…legal. So, let's agree that what you tell me in the next few minutes will stay between us. As long as you did not use an Unforgiveable Curse, you will not be prosecuted for what you tell me."

"I…don't believe I used an Unforgiveable Curse, Ma'am." Harry began. "But I'm also not entirely sure what they are…"

Amelia smiled slightly. "Well then, you probably didn't use one. Please continue."

Harry stared into Amelia's eyes for around thirty seconds, not speaking. Amelia had the distinct impression that her character was being measured by the young man. She felt that this teenager held a maturity much older than his years. Probably from life experience she sadly admitted to herself.

"Well, my friend Hermione was taking all of the elective classes at Hogwarts…" Harry began and proceeded to tell the rest of his story. Amelia listened intently to the story, stopping him only to ask clarifying questions. That is, until Harry told her about fighting off the dementors.

"You produced a fully-fledged Patronus?" Amelia interrupted.

Harry nodded.

"A corporeal Patronus?"

"A-what?" said Harry.

"Your Patronus had a clearly defined form? Earlier in the story you said you only produced vapor."

"Yes," said Harry, blushing slightly. "It's a stag; my father's animagus."

"Impressive." Amelia mused to herself. "Most impressive. A full Patronus at your age. Could you show me?"

"Uhh…I'm not supposed to perform magic outside of school and my wand is locked in the cupboard under the stairs…" Harry replied.

Amelia looked furious at this second statement. "Well, we will resolve that in a minute." Amelia's voice took on a dangerous tone and she shot a glare at Vernon. "And any magic performed here today will be attributed to myself or my auror guards."

Harry continued on with his story and completed it by discussing Hermione and his return to the Hospital Wing.

"Well, I'm very impressed with what you and Miss Granger accomplished, Mr. Potter. That is quite the adventure for one as young as yourself." Harry blushed some more and dipped his head. Vernon looked like he wanted to argue and looked dangerously close to a heart attack. "Now," Amelia said, turning to Vernon, "would you please unlock the cupboard so your nephew can get his wand?" Amelia lifted the spell on Vernon.

"Yes." Vernon said in a low, dangerous voice. He moved into the hallway, taking a key from his pocket. He moved to the door under the stairs, unlocked it, and opened the door. Harry nervously walked into the cupboard, retrieved his wand from his trunk, and came back into the doorway of the living room.

"Well, let's see it." Amelia said with a smile.

Harry thought of Sirius being free and being able to leave the Dursleys forever. "Expecto Patronum!" He incanted.

A brilliant white light filled the living room before forming itself into a beautiful stag. The stag cantered forward into the living room, searching for enemies to protect its caster. Finding none, the stag stood still for a second longer before dissolving into a white mist. Amelia clapped her hands together.

"BRILLIANT, Mr. Potter! Absolutely brilliant! Very impressive!" Amelia exclaimed.

Amelia's praise was interrupted by a slam, a cry from the teenager, and another slam as the teenager's head hit the doorframe. It had been a long time since Vernon had hit his nephew. He had stopped when he realized that hitting his nephew could sometimes cause him to do unnatural things back. However, the morning he had experienced had driven him over the edge. There were four wizards in his house, he had not had a proper breakfast, his postman saw the letter from the freaks, and now this. His nephew performing the freakishness in HIS HOUSE was the final straw. The fact that his nephew had not been punished for doing this, but was PRAISED for it sent him into a frenzy. Vernon had swung his fist and had blindsided his nephew with a right hook.

Harry cried out in pain from the hit and slammed head first into the door-frame. He immediately lost consciousness and laid on the floor. The two auror guards rushed in the front door just in time to witness Vernon Dursley being lifted up and stuck to the wall. Amelia was standing with her wand pointed at Vernon, looking dangerous. Mrs. Dursley let out a scream from the kitchen door and immediately fainted. Their son ran out the back door, only getting stuck in the door for a second; covering his large rear end the entire way.

Amelia leaned over and checked on Harry. He was breathing, but his head was split open and bleeding.

"We will need to take him to St. Mungo's for treatment. You two get his things from under the cupboard and check his room for other supplies. We will not be returning him here. Mr. Dursley, while I cannot arrest you for striking your nephew, I will be informing the local authorities who may have more than a word with you. To think, striking a child for performing a great feat of magic." Amelia stated, trying to keep a professional demeanor with the amount of rage she was feeling.

Vernon paled at this statement. One auror guard moved to the cupboard under the stairs while the other moved up the stairs to the second floor. Amelia cast a stasis spell on Harry to keep him secure during transport. A few seconds later, the auror from under the stairs came out of the cupboard.

"Ma'am, I found Mr. Potter's Hogwarts possessions in the cupboard under the stairs. I…" the auror stuttered here. "I found something else you should see."

Amelia moved toward the cupboard and looked inside. "Lumos." She muttered and raised her wand to light the cupboard. She noticed the trunk right in front of her. Behind the trunk though, she noticed a small cot with a blue blanket. She saw several other things here. It looked like there was another blanket in here...a baby blanket. Amelia noticed there were actually drawings on the wall as well. Near the head of the cot, there was a drawing of a cake with 9 candles on it. Above the cake were the words "Happy 9th Birthday, Harry". It did not take long for Amelia to figure out what this room had been used for.

"THIS WAS HIS ROOM?!" Amelia shouted out. She took a second to glare at Vernon before gaining control over herself. She returned to her strict, professional manner. "I take back what I said, Mr. Dursley. The local authorities will be having more than words with you. I will use all my power to see that you are punished for this. And your nephew will never be returning to this house!"

The second auror returned from upstairs with a bulging bag. "Is that everything?" Amelia asked.

Both aurors nodded. "Alright then, we leave by portkey from right here. We will be going straight to St. Mungo's." Amelia took out her emergency portkey which was an old belt. She released Mr. Dursley but stunned him for good measure. Amelia grabbed Harry and the two aurors grabbed onto the belt. She pointed her wand at the belt and said, "Activate!" The four wizards promptly disappeared from Number 4 Privet Drive.

* * *

 **A/N: Alright, this chapter was getting way too long so going to end it here! Hope no one minds the cliffy but it is not like I'm going to kill the hero in Chapter 2, right? Just a couple of notes here.**

 **First, thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed this story. It really gives me motivation to keep writing.**

 **Second, please note that I'm diverging from canon slightly to say that Voldemort created Nagini as a horcrux from Bertha Jorkins instead of Frank Bryce. JKR has been inconsistent in who she claims was used for this horcrux so I don't feel too bad about doing that. (Dumbledore says it is Frank, JKR said it was Bertha in an interview)**

 **Finally, the story will continue to be told in the way the first two chapters are. We will follow one character through a period of time. The characters will switch pretty much every chapter (though Chapter 3 will continue with Amelia's story) and may cover the same amount of time as the previous chapter. I will be using bold text when I copy something almost directly from the book. Should be very rare going forward now.**


	3. In Which Amelia Bones Stops a Riot

**Chapter 3: In Which Amelia Bones Stops a Riot**

 **D** **isclaimer: I own nothing because...you know...I'm not a literary genius.**

Amelia Bones cursed herself for ever thinking she was having a lucky day. She waited patiently by Harry Potter's bed while the healer cast several diagnostic and healing spells over the boy. The healer, as it turned out, was a good friend of Amelia's. They had met after a rather dangerous raid that Amelia participated in seven years ago. Amelia had multiple injuries during the raid, and her colleagues rushed her to St. Mungo's. This woman healed Amelia and, during recovery, they formed a friendship.

This woman, Roxanne Greengrass, was now one of the very few witches or wizards who could claim to be close to Amelia Bones. She was a very beautiful woman with long blonde hair and soft brown eyes. She carried an elegance in her mannerisms that seemed genetic rather than learned. She was also one of the most caring people Amelia had ever met. Amelia and Roxanne had lunch every month and talked about nothing and everything at the same time.

Amelia knew as soon as she landed with Harry Potter at St. Mungo's, that Roxanne was the healer she preferred to work on the young man. She knew that Roxanne valued patient safety and privacy above all else. She would take care of Mr. Potter and make sure that no one would know what injuries he had when he was brought to the hospital.

"It is alright, Amelia." Roxanne said, causing Amelia to break her train of thought on Harry Potter. "He only has a minor head laceration and a concussion. He should be fine by early this afternoon. Won't even have to stay overnight. I will wake him in a minute."

True to her word, Roxanne woke Harry a few minutes later with a firm, "Enervate". Harry slowly returned to the world of consciousness.

"Wha- happened?" Harry muttered.

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter." Amelia started; Harry turned to look at her. "It seems that your uncle could not handle you performing magic in the house and punched you from behind. You hit your head on the door-frame of the living room and were knocked out."

Harry looked up at Amelia and seemed to notice Roxanne for the first time. He blushed at the beautiful woman, feeling ashamed that she knew about how awful his home life was.

"No worries Mr. Potter. You had a minor cut and a concussion. Take this potion and you will be fine by this afternoon." Roxanne said simply, handing Harry a potion. He looked skeptically at the potion. Reluctantly, he downed the potion in one swallow and grimaced at the taste. Both Roxanne and Amelia chuckled at this action.

"Mr. Potter, I am going to work very hard to make sure you never have to go back to that house." Harry looked distinctly hopeful at this prospect. "Now, until we can sort out this Peter Pettigrew/Sirius Black mess, you need to live somewhere. Is there anyone who you can stay with till you return to school?"

"The Weasleys just invited me to go to the World Cup with them. They sent a letter to Uncle Vernon this morning asking if I could go. They said they would pick me up tomorrow morning."

Amelia smiled at this. "That will work perfectly. Can you send them an owl to ask if you can come stay tonight instead of tomorrow morning? Your owl should be in that bag there." Amelia said, indicating the small bag the auror had retrieved from Harry's room. "Roxanne, I have to head back to HQ. Could I trust you to escort Mr. Potter to the Weasley's?"

"My daughters are coming in this afternoon, and we are going school shopping in Diagon Alley." Roxanne replied. "Astoria is starting at Hogwarts this year, you know. As long as Mr. Potter doesn't mind going shopping with us, then I would be glad to take him?" Roxanne looked at Harry after saying this.

"That would be fine. I…uhh…haven't done my shopping for fourth year yet either." Harry replied and followed up with a mumbled, "...haven't had a chance."

"That's settled then." Amelia said. She gave Harry a sudden smirk. "Only one last thing, Mr. Potter. Not saying that you would have contact with an escaped convict, but if you would happen to know how to contact Mr. Black, would you tell him about what happened? I would very much like to speak to him and will guarantee his safety from the dementors." Harry nodded his acknowledgement and, with that, Amelia turned and walked out the door of the hospital room.

* * *

"Hello, Mr. Pettigrew, I am Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. How are you doing today? Would you like a cup of tea?" Amelia had just returned to Auror Headquarters and entered the interrogation room where Peter Pettigrew was being held. She could already feel the fatigue of her all-nighter, but she felt she needed to conclude this ordeal today.

Peter Pettigrew shifted nervously in his chair in a DMLE interrogation room. He looked even smaller and more rat-like than he normally did. He tried to make himself look meek by crouching down in the chair, and his eyes darted around the room, looking for an escape. On his forehead, beads of sweat raced down his terrified face. He recoiled slightly from Amelia's question but calmed himself enough to answer.

"F-f-fine. I'm doing fine. Why am I h-here?"

"We are very curious, Mr. Pettigrew." Amelia said evenly, surveying him through her monocle. She set down at the table with a cup of tea, and placed another cup in front of Pettigrew. Amelia opened a dragon hide notebook on the table and pulled out a quill. "Where have you been all these years? You were declared dead, and a man sat in prison for twelve years for your murder."

"I was hi-hiding! Sirius Black was going to murder me! Just like he murdered the Potters!"

Pettigrew started to whimper here, muttering to himself under his breath. "yes…murder me…afraid."

Amelia, in her same calm demeanor, said. "So you are saying that you were afraid that Sirius Black would murder you?"

"Y-yes," Pettigrew replied in a tiny voice.

"Where were you hiding from him all these years?"

Pettigrew raised his eyebrows at this question and stood a little straighter. "Here and there," he said, evasively.

"That was a good idea. Can never be too careful when someone is out to kill you, can you? My old mentor would say that all the time. We seem to have rescued you from a dire situation. Do you know who were you with, tonight?"

"I was with You Know Who! He found me and put me under the Imperius Curse! He was angry with me for outwitting Sirius Black, his loyal servant!" Pettigrew blurted out.

"Calm yourself, Mr. Pettigrew. You are quite safe from Sirius Black and the Dark Lord, now." Amelia replied in a soothing town, indicating the tea in front of him. Pettigrew looked down at the tea, picked it up, and took a mouthful. He swallowed and let out a long breath.

"T-t-thank you…" he stuttered out.

"You are most welcome, Mr. Pettigrew. No worries now. I imagine the Minister will want to meet you and give you your Order of Merlin in person. You have been through a horrible ordeal."

Pettigrew visibly relaxed at these words. He sat straight up in the chair, puffed his chest slightly, and took another sip of tea. He had the look of a man who was visualizing being rewarded with fame, money, and women.

"I have just a couple more routine questions, though." Amelia said, interrupting Pettigrew's train of thought. Her quill was raised, ready to write. "Are you Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail?"

"Yes," Peter said, blushing slightly at his nickname the Marauders gave him.

"Are you a rat animagus?"

"Y-y-yes." Peter said, wondering why he answered her so quickly.

"Are you a willing follower of the Dark Lord Voldemort, also known as He Who Must Not Be Named?" Amelia said with a coldly serious tone in her voice; her eyes locked on him.

"…n…y-yes." Peter felt a chill go through his body, and struggled not to answer the question truthfully but could not. He felt his sense of control leave his body. He was an open-book to Amelia now.

"Were you the secret keeper for Lily and James Potter?"

"Yes"

"Did you freely betray the secret of their location to He Who Must Not Be Named? Did you frame Sirius Black for this crime? Did you frame him for killing those muggles in the middle of the street?" Amelia kept asking question after question, receiving a yes for each one.

"Where and how were you hiding these past twelve years?"

"I was hiding in my rat animagus as the Weasley Family pet."

"Did they know who you were?"

"They had no idea until the youngest boy, Ronald, saw me transform this past year."

"Where did you find the Dark Lord?"

"I found him in Albania."

"Tell me about your time with the Dark Lord. What did you both do?"

Wormtail proceeded to tell Amelia about what he was doing with the Dark Lord. How he found the Dark Lord and helped him obtain a rudimentary body. The description of how Wormtail was forced to milk Nagini and make a potion for the Dark Lord made Amelia shutter. It was at this point that Wormtail mentioned how he encountered Bertha Jorkins in a pub in Albania. Amelia paled at the description of what You Know Who did to Bertha.

"What did the Dark Lord learn from Bertha?"

"He learned about the Triwizard Tournament that will occur at Hogwarts this year. He also learned about a loyal Death Eater who escaped from Azkaban."

Amelia stopped writing at this statement. "Who has escaped from Azkaban?"

"Barty Crouch Jr."

"Barty Crouch Jr. is dead." Amelia stated flatly.

"No he is not. Bertha saw him at Crouch Manor. She heard their house elf talking to someone. Turns out that house elf is charged with taking care of him. His father got him out of Azkaban."

"How?" Amelia asked breathlessly.

"She did not know. The Dark Lord was going to ask him when we rescued him this week."

"What did Bertha do when she found Crouch Jr.?"

"She didn't do anything. Barty Crouch Sr. used a powerful Memory Charm on her. Turns out, he damaged her brain."

Amelia shuddered as she thought of what she would need to do after she left this interrogation. "What were the Dark Lord's plans for Crouch Jr.?"

"He was going to use him to replace Alastor Moody as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts this year. He was to enter Harry Potter into the Triwizard Tournament and make sure he won. The Triwizard Cup would be replaced with a portkey to the Dark Lord at the end of tournament."

"What did the Dark Lord want to use Harry Potter for?"

"I do not know. The Dark Lord just said that he needed an enemy to use for a ritual and chose Potter for that role."

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

Wormtail shook his head. He felt his head clearing and began shaking his head vigorously. "Thank you for all that information, Mr. Pettigrew." Amelia said as she stood up from the table.

"You t-t-tricked me!" Pettigrew stuttered out. "There was something in the t-t-tea!"

"You know another thing that my mentor, Alastor Moody, would always tell me?" Amelia asked in a barely concealed tone of disgust. "Never take a drink from someone you do not know and trust."

"That's illegal. I have rights as a wizard!" Pettigrew yelled indignantly.

"Ahh...you will find, that you do not, Mr. Pettigrew. You were found in the presence of the Dark Lord, several witnesses claimed you are an illegal animagus, and a witness heard you discussing multiple murders. Any of those would have allowed me to petition the Wizengamot for use of Veritaserum. However, you have been declared legally dead for over ten years, Mr. Pettigrew. And dead wizards don't have the same rights as living wizards. As for tricking you, Veritaserum works so much better when the individual does not know they have taken it."

Pettigrew began whimpering and shrinking at these words.

"Now, it is my duty to inform you that you are under arrest for being an illegal animagus, associating with the known Dark Lord, Voldemort, lying to a Ministry official, conspiracy to commit murder, murder of a Ministry official, framing a fellow wizard, and twelve counts of murder of a Muggle. You will be kept in Ministry custody until your trial in front of the Wizengamot."

Amelia turned and left the room; leaving a sobbing Pettigrew behind.

* * *

Amelia let out a long breath as she closed the door to the interrogation room. It was not every day that a person learned their former boss committed a serious crime. Amelia found Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of the Auror Office, standing outside the interrogation room waiting for her.

"You learn anything?" Rufus said gruffly. Rufus had been upset when he came in and learned of the raid at Riddle Manor last night. Amelia suspected that he was mostly jealous that he missed out on such a politically lucrative arrest, but Amelia had to admit that he was a good leader and a skilled dueler.

"We need to keep this quiet." Amelia replied and explained what she had learned from Pettigrew. "I need you to go down to Level Six, and tell Barty that we got a tip that he may be attacked. Stay with him no matter what, alright? Tell him nothing else. Take someone with you."

Rufus nodded and hurried off to follow the instructions. Amelia followed Rufus back into the main auror office. Several aurors waited for instructions in the auror 'bullpen' in the center of all the cubicles.

"Proudfoot!" Amelia barked and a young man stood at attention. "Place the suspect in Interrogation Room 3 in an anti-animagus holding cell!" The man shot off to follow instructions.

"Williamson! Savage! On-me." Amelia finished and walked briskly out of the office and towards the lifts.

Ten minutes later, Amelia, Mr. Diggory from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and the two aurors appeared outside of Crouch manor. They approached the front door of the manor, Amelia quickly giving out orders.

"Williamson, I want you to watch the house elf with Mr. Diggory. Mr. Diggory, you are to restrain the elf and do not let it apparate away. Savage, you will follow me in the manor and cover me. You all understand me?"

The three wizards nodded as they arrived in front of the large manor door. Amelia knocked on the door. After a few moments, the manor door slowly opened and a small female house elf stood in the door-frame. She looked somewhat nervous to see the four Ministry wizards standing at the door. The elf slowly started to speak.

"I is being Winky, Mr. Crouch's house elf. Mr. Crouch is not being home at the moment. If you is leaving a message, I will be passing the message on to Mr. Crouch."

"Winky, I am Madam Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Mr. Diggory here is from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. We believe there may be a danger here and need to investigate. I need you to stay here with Mr. Williamson and Mr. Diggory. Do you understand me?"

Winky nervously wrung her hands and shifted her eyes left and right. "Alright, Madam Bones." Winky replied and moved over toward the two men. When she was within arm's length, Mr. Diggory grabbed her and quickly restrained her. Winky began to wail and sob, and Williamson quickly stunned her. Amelia and Savage moved into the manor.

Crouch Manor was eerily quiet as Amelia and Savage moved into the entry hall. The Crouch Manor was considered mid-sized for a wizarding family home, however, it would be considered a mansion by any muggle standards. Amelia stared around the entry hall, looking for any sign of movement.

"Homenum Revelio" Amelia said quietly. She felt a wave come over her and an indication of someone through the door at the back right of the entry hall. Amelia indicated the direction with her wand and proceeded forward, Savage following close behind. Amelia opened the door to what appeared to be a kitchen. She and Savage moved quickly into the kitchen going left and right at the same time. Amelia suddenly heard Savage cry out in pain. She turned around only to be met with the horrific sight of a hand, seemingly hovering in mid-air, and holding on to the handle of a knife that was embedded in Savage's shoulder. Reacting quickly, Amelia sent a stunning spell and a petrify spell where the body of the disembodied hand would be located. The spells hit something invisible and the hand fell to the group, limp.

Amelia quickly went over to Savage and stunned him to keep him from pulling the knife out. She placed his emergency portkey on his chest, muttered "activate", and he disappeared from the kitchen. Moving over to the disembodied hand, Amelia grabbed onto an invisible bit of fabric, and pulled an invisibility cloak off the individual. Looking down, Amelia saw Barty Crouch Jr. stunned on the ground…

* * *

Amelia was looking forward to a long needed rest after the Quidditch World Cup was over. Thankfully, like Harry, Savage had not been injured too badly. He was given the week off to stay at home and recuperate from his injury. With the benefit of hindsight, Amelia was back to thinking about how fortunate she had been this past week. Three criminals behind bars awaiting trial, a once incarcerated man seemingly proven innocent, a boy rescued from an abusive home, and a dark lord's plan thwarted. All of this with only two minor injuries.

Amelia called for Rufus and Barty Crouch Sr. as soon as she got back to the DMLE. She sent a runner to tell the two men that the potential attacker of Barty Crouch Sr. had been caught. When Rufus and Barty Crouch Sr. entered the interrogation room, they only saw Amelia and a seated Barty Crouch Jr.

"Hello, Father." Barty Crouch Jr. said, maliciously.

Amelia immediately placed Barty Crouch Sr. under arrest. Barty Crouch Sr., his son, and Wormtail were awaiting trials after the Quidditch World Cup. Minister Fudge forced Amelia to wait till after the World Cup was finished to announce the arrests and schedule the trials. For now, the official story was that Barty Crouch Sr. was on 'administrative leave' due to the mental strain from organizing the Quidditch World Cup. The other two criminals were both thought dead and not even mentioned.

Amelia's long awaited rest would finally come after tonight. The Quidditch World Cup Final had just ended after a miraculous (though ultimately futile) Snitch catch by the Bulgarian Seeker, and Amelia was checking in on the overnight guards for the campsites. Amelia was checking on the final campsite before retiring for the night when an explosion rang out from Campsite 2. This explosion was followed by several others and screams rang out in the night air.

"I want all hands available on me at Campsite 2 in five minutes." Amelia barked at the two overnight guards in front of her. She then began apparating through the campsites, picking up guards, until five minutes later she was on the edge of Campsite 2 with ten wizards. Several more aurors appeared within a few seconds, and boosted the numbers.

"Come on!" Amelia ordered and the group began making their way through the sea of people, toward the explosions.

It took a good 15 minutes to make it through the crowd, but they picked up more support in the form of other Ministry wizards and civilians. Amelia noticed Arthur Weasley and three of his sons join them about halfway to the group of rioters.

It was as they got nearer that Amelia realized they were not just Irish fans out of control, but almost twenty Death Eaters in full costumes and masks. Hovering above the Death Eaters, Amelia recognized the man, woman, and two children as the muggle family who owned this particular piece of land.

"Do not hold back. They are here, committing crimes, and they will be treated like criminals." Amelia told the assembled group. "You four," Amelia said, indicating four guards of the group. "You will catch the Muggles, understood." The men nodded. "Everyone else, stunners on three. One, Two, THREE!"

This action was immediately followed by a volley of stunners from the assembled Ministry group towards the masked men. This action only seemed to incapacitate two of the Death Eaters, but garnered the attention of the rest of the Death Eaters, causing them to focus on the group opposing them. Individual duels seemed to break out instantly as each member of the group chose one person to focus on.

A tall, thin wizard confronted Amelia and immediately went on the offensive. She dodged and shielded against increasingly dangerous and harmful spells, looking for an opening. Several minutes passed with neither one gaining an advantage and the tall Death Eater becoming increasingly frustrated. This frustration caused him to over-flourish a wand movement, leaving him open for retaliation. Amelia's aim was true as she hit the masked man with a stunner and immediately followed up with an incarcerous spell; binding him in thick ropes. Several pops were heard and the field went deathly quiet.

"REPORT!" Amelia yelled out.

"We captured eight of the Death Eaters counting the one you got there. The rest escaped. Muggles are fine. Only minor injuries."

Amelia looked down at the wizard she had incapacitated. She bent down and pulled the mask off of his face. Lucius Malfoy's face could just be made out from the fire on the tents surrounding them. 'Yes,' Amelia thought to herself, 'this is most definitely the luckiest week of my life.'

* * *

 **A/N: Hey all! So this finishes up Amelia's main part of the story and the 'Prologue' (if you want to call it that). Next chapter we will be joining Harry right as Amelia leaves the room in the hospital. Probably will be with Harry for two chapters at least. Also, I dropped the rating to a T. I doubt this will ever be an M rating story. If I decide to take it that way, I will let everyone know beforehand.**

 **Shout-out to CaskettFan5 as I am using his name of Roxanne Greengrass. (Really, coming up with names is one of my least favorite things about writing this) Everyone should check out his story 'Harry Potter and the Unexpected Friend' and the sequel 'Harry Potter and the Unexpected Dogfather' (not yet complete). Both are really well written and a very interesting AU. Personally, I'm just selfish and wished he updated more, because I am so in love with these stories, lol.**

 **That's it for me! Take care until next week!**


	4. In Which Roxanne Greengrass Offers Help

**Chapter 4: In Which Roxanne Greengrass Offers Some Advice**

 **D** **isclaimer: I own nothing because...you know...I'm not a literary genius. Also, any similarity to any other 'Harry Goes Shopping' fics are purely coincidence...**

Harry laid in his bed on the top floor of the Burrow, listening to Ron's snores, and thinking about his rather eventful day. Just this morning, Harry woke up knowing three things to be absolute truths:

1\. Sirius Black, his godfather, was not going to be proven innocent anytime soon.

2\. Harry would never get to leave the Dursley's before he left Hogwarts.

3\. No Slytherin would ever be friends with Harry (and he was fine with that).

In the course of a little over 12 hours, all of these truths had been destroyed. Harry's biggest concern that morning had been finding ways to survive the Dursleys' diet plan. Now, he was beginning to think about his actions, thoughts, and beliefs he had for the past three years. For a reason he had not yet identified, Harry also could not remove the brilliant blue eyes and shining blonde hair of Daphne Greengrass out of his head. He decided to run the day through his head one more time starting with Amelia leaving his room at St. Mungo's.

* * *

Harry Potter still felt embarrassed as Amelia left and closed the door to the examination room. His Uncle Vernon drilled into him from an early age that no one outside the family should know anything about Harry or the Dursleys' treatment of him. While he was old enough to know that was a way to keep people from finding out about his treatment, it was still a hard habit to break. When Ron, Fred, and George rescued him from the iron bars before his second year, he swore them to secrecy about what they had seen.

Roxanne Greengrass bustled about the examination room, getting charts and potions in order. It was evident to Harry that she was giving him a little space to deal with his obvious embarrassment and he was grateful for it. That time came to an end though as she began to speak.

"Alright, Mr. Potter. I'm going to be doing some additional diagnostics on you. Standard stuff for children brought in under these circumstances. These spells will let me know about any adverse effects of your time in that house. You understand me?"

Harry nodded. He understood that Roxanne meant these tests were for abused children. He wondered what she would find.

"I'm going to begin now." Roxanne started and she began waving her wand over him. Harry started to blush under wand movements. "So, Mr. Potter. You have any idea what you want to be when you grow up?"

Harry was startled by the question. "Uhh…haven't given it much thought actually…"

"Well, I guess you have some time. You are only going into your fourth year. However, it is never too early to start thinking about what you enjoy. What electives did you take?"

"Care of Magical Creatures and Divination" Harry replied, forgetting about the examination for a moment and focusing on the conversation.

"Ahh...do you have the Sight?" Roxanne asked with a smirk.

Harry chuckled slightly. "Well I do alright in the class as long as I predict my own death. But…uhh…no, I do not see anything but swirling mist and soggy tea grounds."

Roxanne laughed at this comment. "Well, what about Care of Magical Creatures? Do you like dealing with creatures?"

"Well, I did enjoy meeting and caring for the hippogriff. Other than that, not particularly."

"Why did you pick those classes if you don't mind my asking?"

Harry blushed so hard that he looked Weasley-like in complexion. "Well, they were…they were the easiest classes."

Roxanne stopped working and gave him a look. She looked like she was going to say something, but decided against it.

"How about your other classes? Anything you particularly like or are good at?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't think I'm particularly good at anything but flying."

"Well, my daughter does say you are a very good seeker. It can be hard to make a career out of it though. Maybe give it some thought on what you want to do when you leave Hogwarts. It is really not that far away."

Harry looked at her and then to his hands in his lap. He started thinking about Roxanne's words and found wisdom there. He should be thinking about his future. He would not be in school forever. Going over her words, Harry thought of a question.

"Who is your daughter?"

Roxanne looked surprised at him. "Daphne, of course. You all ARE in the same class. I believe you have had potions together for the past three years."

Harry could have smacked himself on the forehead. He knew who Daphne Greengrass was. Hogwarts was small enough that he knew most everyone by name, especially people in his year. That being said, he had never talked with said girl.

"Oh…right. I guess we never talked much because she is in a different house."

At this statement, Roxanne looked even more surprised. "Being in a different house shouldn't stop you from making friends. I know house rivalries exist and all, but…"

Roxanne leaned closer and began to whisper, "…the House Cup is really just a way to make students follow the rules."

Roxanne winked at him. "I cannot tell you who won the House Cup any of my seven years at Hogwarts. Once you leave Hogwarts, you will work with people from other houses and from other wizarding schools. So, don't limit yourself now."

"She's a Slytherin…" Harry said softly, trailing off, and acting like that explained everything.

Roxanne raised an eyebrow. "So is the school matron, Madam Pomfrey. You will find, Mr. Potter, that it is our actions, choices, and words that truly define us; far more than any other labels. Also, people change from when they are eleven years old. It would be absolutely awful if we didn't. Besides, all the Hogwarts traits can be good or bad. Having ambition and cunning doesn't mean you are evil. Just like being brave and daring doesn't mean you are good."

Harry again looked down at his hands. That was the second piece of advice Roxanne had given him that he could not argue with. In fact, it was remarkably similar to something Dumbledore had once told him. He contemplated these words a little longer before Roxanne interrupted.

"Anyway, I will say that my Daphne has a huge amount of ambition and cunning. She is very interested in law, much like my husband. She was also quite a mischievous child; got her sister in trouble more times than I could count. Still, she loves her family, and she is a loyal friend. Of course I am a little biased, but perhaps you will see that when she goes shopping with us later."

Harry began to feel embarrassed and looked nervously toward the door; expecting his classmate to walk through the door at any moment.

"Don't worry, Mr. Potter. We will meet them in Diagon Alley. Now, I am finished with my examination, and I need to talk frankly with you for a moment. I know it is hard, but please try not to feel embarrassed. I know this was not your fault."

Harry nodded even as his cheeks continued to blush.

"It seems as if you were greatly malnourished for the years before Hogwarts. Your nutrition has improved since that time, but you are still behind in terms of growth. I also was able to identify some old injuries that didn't properly heal. I'm going to fix these old injuries, then I have some potions you will need to take daily over the next few weeks. Alright?"

* * *

Several hours later, Harry and Roxanne made their way through Diagon Alley toward Gringotts. Roxanne had floo-called the Weasleys, letting them know about Harry and his arrival that night. Harry sent Hedwig along to the Burrow with his shrunken belongings. As they reached Harry's vault, Roxanne took a quick glance into the vault. She nodded almost imperceptibly and returned her attention to Harry's fourth year book list.

"Oh! Says here that you need to have dress robes. They must be having a formal event of some kind. Well, we can pick those up as well as some other things. I think about…75 galleons would be good for this year, Harry."

Harry raised his eyebrows at the amount Roxanne was suggesting, but nodded just the same. He quickly gathered some money together and, for the first time, looked around at the other contents of the vault. There were some bookcases filled with books along the side walls, some furniture stacked along the back, and what appeared to be some trunks just in front of the furniture. Harry could not believe he missed all these items during his previous visits. True, his first visit he was overwhelmed by the amount of gold, and the second visit, he was trying to shield the amount of gold from the Weasleys. However, last year he had all the time he wanted and had not even given his vault a second look. He shook his head and reluctantly moved back toward the door.

"You can get Gringotts to inventory everything for you." Roxanne said, reading his mind. "They can mail you with the full listing." Harry nodded and returned to the Gringotts cart.

* * *

Almost an hour later, Harry and Roxanne were standing in Twilfitt and Tattings, looking over their selection of 'casual' clothing. When Harry asked why they were going to Twilfitt and Tattings instead of Madam Malkins, Roxanne told him that T&T had a wider selection than every day and school robes. T&T also contained a selection of 'casual clothing' which was the wizarding term for muggle clothes.

Harry, for the first time in his life, went shopping for non-school robes for himself. When they finished shopping for muggle clothes, Harry had well-fitting jeans and button-up shirts for the first time in his life. The clothes, like most wizarding children's clothing, were charmed to grow a couple inches as he grew. The charm would only last for a year, but it was still a nice feature. Harry got Roxanne to vanish Dudley's old sweatshirt and jeans. Harry's smile could have lit the entire room as they moved over to the dress robes.

Just as they reached the dress robes, a bell rang out indicating someone had entered the shop. Two girls walked into the shop talking to each other. The younger girl was pleading with the older one. Both girls had blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and one look at Roxanne Greengrass would tell you who their mother was. The older girl was beginning to show the signs of adulthood, and from those indications, she would be a strikingly beautiful woman like her mother.

"PLEASSEEE, DAPH! TELL ME!" The younger girl pleaded with her older sister. The older girl just laughed in reply. "PLEASSEE! Tell me how you get sorted at Hogwarts! I know I don't have to write an essay like you said. Dad told me you were lying."

Harry couldn't help but smile at this sibling interaction. It reminded him of his own first year and the Weasley twins' lying to Ron about fighting a troll.

"Hey Mom!" Daphne said as she spotted her mother. "The list says we need formal wear…" Daphne trailed off as she spotted Harry Potter standing next to her mother. Her face morphed to one of confusion. "Uhh…hey, Potter."

"Hi, Daphne." Harry politely replied. There was a moment's pause between the two of them, which was interrupted by a shorter, blonde head popping up between them.

"HI! I'm Astoria, FIRST year at Hogwarts! Who are you?" Astoria Greengrass said in a dramatic voice, extending her hand.

Harry was startled by this sudden appearance. "Uh…Harry Potter." He said, shaking Astoria's hand. Astoria's eyes widened just slightly and she made a quick movement of her eyes up to his forehead. Harry noticed this action and quickly moved his bangs to cover his scar.

"OH!" Astoria said. "Sorry about that…soooo, how do students get sorted at Hogwarts?" Astoria asked, looking hopefully into Harry's face.

"Oh..." Harry said, surprised. "Well, see there is this hat…" Harry began. Behind Astoria, Daphne began to look angry and disappointed at him. "…and out of this hat you draw a little slip of paper. That paper lists a task that you have to complete. That's why it is hard for people to tell you what the sorting is like. Everyone's sorting is different."

"Aww…Potter! Why did you have to ruin it!" Daphne's voice came from behind Astoria.

"What kind of tasks?" Astoria said breathlessly, glancing between Daphne and Harry, looking for a lie.

"Well, I had to defeat a half-grown mountain troll with only my wand. My friend, Hermione, had to get past a Devil's Snare, and my other friend, Ron, had to defeat Professor McGonagall in life-size Wizarding Chess." Astoria stared at him in awe. "Now, your sister," Harry continued, pointing at Daphne, "she had to solve a riddle by Professor Snape and drink a potion vial. One vial would see her sorted, another was poison, and the rest would see her sent home. How you solve the task is what determines your house."

Astoria stood with her mouth open, looking at Harry. She turned to Daphne. "Is that true?" she asked.

Daphne gave a dramatic sigh. "Yes, but don't worry. All the staff are there to make sure we don't get hurt. And all the tasks can easily be overcome with spells and knowledge gained in the first year books. So as long as you read them, you will be fine."

"MOM! Are they telling the truth?" Astoria yelled to her mother.

Roxanne smiled. "I have no doubt you will get sorted, Astoria. So try not to worry about it. Come on, we have to get your school robes, pick out a nice dress for your sister, and get Harry some dress robes. Harry had to come to St. Mungo's today and I promised to take him school shopping before sending him to the Weasley's house. We will start with your school robes, Astoria."

With that, Astoria stomped off after her mother in a mixture of frustration and panic, leaving Harry and Daphne alone by the dress robes.

"Nice one there, Potter." Daphne said, chuckling under her breath. "Really sold it with the specific tasks."

"Thanks." Harry said, smiling. "The twins told Ron he would have to wrestle a troll before our first year. I'm guessing this is a tradition for new students and their siblings?"

"Yeah, kind of like a rite of initiation. My dad told me I had to write an essay on potion ingredients. I studied our Potions book cover-to-cover before we got on the train. Don't worry, got him back for it though." Daphne said with an evil smile that made Harry either want to shiver or laugh.

With the initial awkwardness gone, Harry and Daphne fell into easy conversation about their summers. Harry avoided talking about what had sent him to St. Mungo's and Daphne did not ask about it. They were only able to talk for a few minutes before Roxanne and Astoria returned from the school robes.

They moved over to the dress robes, where Roxanne, Astoria, and Daphne helped him with styles and colors. It only took a couple of different outfits before Harry tried on a pair of very stylish robes in black with deep emerald green trimmings. Roxanne and Astoria nodded their approval. When Harry turned to Daphne for her opinion, he found her staring at him with a strange expression on her face. This lasted for only a moment before her cheeks colored and she mumbled out, "looks good." Astoria got a knowing smirk on her face but said nothing.

This situation seemed to repeat when it was Daphne's turn to try on dresses. She came out in several styles before trying on an off-shoulder ball gown. This one also happened to be in emerald green as well and showed off her pretty face and growing figure. Astoria and Roxanne both approved of this dress as well, while Harry was stunned into silence. In the end, he could only nod and tried very hard not to stare at Daphne.

* * *

When they were finally all situated with clothes, the four of them headed to Flourish & Blotts to grab their school books. On the way to the counter, Roxanne placed another book on top of Harry's stack. Harry looked down at the book and read the title. " _From Auror to (Magi)-Zoologist: 548 Careers in the Magical World_ ". Harry looked up to Roxanne thankfully and was actually excited to read the book.

After the bookstore, the four of them made their way over to Ollivander's wands. Astoria was bouncing up and down with excitement as they entered the shop. Mr. Ollivander came around the corner with just as much drama as he had when Harry first entered.

"First wand, my dear?" Mr. Ollivander said to Astoria.

"Yes, I can't wait!" Astoria said excitedly.

"Let us see what we can find. Given your company here," Mr. Ollivander said, indicating Harry, Daphne, and Roxanne. "I would expect you to have a rather unique wand."

"What do you mean by that?" Astoria asked.

"Well, your mother was a Willow and Dragon Heartstring, a somewhat unusual though not completely uncommon combination. Your sister and Mr. Potter both have phoenix feather wands. Quite rare with the core, but paired with acacia and holly wood, respectively, is quite an odd combination. Now, let's try some stuff out."

At this, Daphne leaned over to Harry and whispered, "Let's get out of here, Potter."

"Call me, Harry." Harry said and Daphne nodded at him.

Louder, Daphne said, "Mom, Harry and I are going down to Quality Quidditch, ok?"

"Alright, we will come looking for you when we are done here." Roxanne's proclamation was followed by a loud bang as a whole shelf of wands collapsed after Astoria waved her first wand.

"No, no, no. Try this one" Mr. Ollivander could be heard saying as Daphne pulled Harry out of the door.

They walked down toward Quality Quidditch Supplies talking about the Quidditch World Cup. Daphne, it turned out, loved flying almost as much as Harry. She hoped to be able to try out for the Slytherin House Team this year. Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain, had insisted on only larger, males on the team as he wanted physical dominance on the pitch. However, this year, Adrian Pucey would probably be the Slytherin captain, and he was more open to others on the team.

"Be prepared, Potter." Daphne smirked. "I won't go easy on you when we are up in the air."

"Can't wait to see what moves you have." Harry smirked back.

They moved on from Quality Quidditch Supplies and stopped at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Harry bought himself and Daphne some ice cream and they sat down at a table outside of the shop. As they sat down, Daphne continued their conversation.

"So, Harry, I have to ask. I know the things you told Astoria contained some of the rumors surrounding you in our first year. But…how much of that was true?"

Harry proceeded to tell her over ice cream about his first year at Hogwarts. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. Their conversation continued into second year quite easily. Harry had just told her about Lockhart's backfiring memory charm, when Astoria and Roxanne came up. Harry stopped talking as soon as he heard them come up.

"Which wand did you get?" Harry asked quickly.

"Dogwood and Unicorn Hair" Astoria said with a flourish of her wand.

With that, Roxanne took Astoria inside to buy her an ice cream. Harry took the opportunity to apologize to Daphne.

"I'm sorry I can't finish the story right now. I…I can owl you the rest if you would like?" Harry said tentatively.

"I would like that." Daphne replied with a shy smile.

Astoria and Roxanne came back out of Fortescue's and the group made their way to the Leaky Cauldron. Once inside, Astoria was the first to floo home with a quick 'goodbye' to Harry. Roxanne looked at Harry and told him quietly to take the potions she had given him. She also told him to take care and owl her with any questions he might have. With a knowing smile and a 'hurry home' to Daphne, she disappeared into the floo as well.

Harry and Daphne stood alone in the Leaky Cauldron, looking shyly at one another.

"Well, it was nice to finally get a chance to talk to you outside of school." Harry said.

"Yeah, it was good to see the 'man behind the myth'." Daphne said dramatically with a small smile.

"P-perhaps..." Harry blushed as he stumbled on his words, but powered through either way. "…we can sit together on the train to Hogwarts?"

Daphne blushed as well but smiled at him. "Sure! I will be sitting with my friend, Tracy, and Astoria. Come find us."

With that, Harry nodded, stepped into the fire, and shouted, "The Burrow!" He started spinning and disappeared into the flames.

He tumbled out of the Weasley's fireplace and heard soft laughter from the doorway. He looked up to see Ron and Hermione standing in the door.

"Nice landing there, Harry." Ron joked. Harry glared at him but couldn't fight the smile that popped up on his face. He and his friends went into the living room where the rest of the Weasleys were waiting. Harry described his day to the Weasleys but left out his interaction with Daphne. He planned on telling Hermione and Ron about that later, but was unsure what their reaction might be.

* * *

Yes, this had been quite a day, Harry thought to himself as he laid in his bed. He heard the ghoul shift in the attic above him. Harry yawned and rolled over on his side. Before Harry could even form another thought, he drifted off to sleep. His dreams, which he would not remember the next day, were filled with the bright blue eyed and blonde haired girl he had spoken his first words to that day.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the slight delay on this. Have a bunch of stuff going on at work as well as developing a class for this fall (I'm an adjunct professor at night). Also, just finally got around to playing Breath of the Wild (oops) so a lot of pull on my time from a couple of different directions. Hope you all like this chapter. We will continue with Harry next chapter before switching focus to someone else. We will eventually have a Daphne perspective chapter that will have some background on what she has been doing for the past 3 years.**

 **So sorry for all that! I will continue my commitment to update this story every one to two weeks. Until next time, have a good one!**


	5. In Which Harry Potter Reflects

**Chapter 5: In Which Harry Potter Reflects**

 **D** **isclaimer: I own nothing because...you know...I'm not a literary genius. Also, shout out to Darth Marrs and his fic "The Bonds of Blood" for the idea about some Arithmancy topics and the Lumos/Nox thing...**

Harry Potter swung his wand around as his foe fell behind him. Another enemy came up to test him and with a quick flick of his wand, his enemy's spell rebounded back and disposed of its owner. With a silent shield spell and a quick thrust with the Sword of Gryffindor, Harry slayed another adversary. He turned to face another enemy and saw several masked Death Eaters standing before him in the middle of the Quidditch World Cup tents, holding a young girl hostage. Upon closer look, Harry realized that the young girl in question was Daphne Greengrass. She had a terrified look on her face as she was being held by one of the three Death Eaters he now faced.

"Drop the wand, Potter" a familiar, drawling voice said. The lead Death Eater took off his mask and Draco Malfoy stood facing Harry. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to Miss Greengrass. It would be a shame to harm such a beautiful young woman."

Harry felt the rage in himself seeing Daphne in such a position. He felt his magic building in him and the sky above him became distinctly cloudier. As Harry's magic reached a crescendo, Daphne was yanked from the arms of the Death Eater holding her and flew towards Harry. A split second later, three lightning bolts descended from the sky and struck the Draco Malfoy and his companions. The three Death Eaters simply vanished into dust. Harry did not pay attention to this, though. He was looking down into the bright, blue eyes of Daphne Greengrass who he now had his arms around.

"Are you alright?" He asked her.

She shuddered and moved closer to him. "I am now. Thank you." She said. Harry and Daphne locked eyes and began moving closer to each other. Their lips drawing nearer to one another.

"Oh, Harry." Daphne said. "Harry, Harry..."

"HARRY!" Hermione said as she shook Harry awake.

"Hermione! What happened? Is there another attack?!" Harry asked, instantly awake.

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Hermione chuckled. "It is time to head to London for the Hogwarts Express. Your turn in the shower is up."

Harry lifted his head from his bed and looked over at Ron who seemed to still be asleep. Harry slowly got up from his bed as he gathered his shower things together. Outside, rain was pouring down marking a somber final day of the summer vacation. A couple hours later, the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione piled into several taxis and began their long journey to London. Passing through the towns and hamlets on the way to London, Harry was quietly staring out of the window thinking about the past few days. Only a few times before had Harry had such a grand swing of emotions so rapidly. Most of those emotion swings waited till just before or after his end-of-year exams, he thought smiling to himself.

* * *

The Quidditch World Cup was amazing. Harry could barely find the words to describe how he felt seeing all those wizards and witches from around the world, how exciting the Quidditch final was, and how excited he felt when it was all over. For the first time in his life, Harry did not just feel like a visitor in the Wizarding World, he actually felt like he belonged in the Wizarding World. He felt as if he was a part of the broader Wizarding World outside of school. When people talked about the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Harry could say that he was there. That he had been in the top box, with the Minister of Magic, and watched Krum meaninglessly catch the Snitch while taking a bludger to the face; sealing the Irish victory.

Outside of the actual game, other scenes replayed in Harry's head while thinking about the past few days.

Harry woke up on his first day at the Burrow with a strong sense of purpose and a decent amount of energy. He had not gotten a chance to send any owls or talk with Ron and Hermione alone since getting to the house. His time had been monopolized by meeting Ron's older brothers Bill and Charlie and hearing about Percy's new job. So, when he got up this morning, he left Ron still snoring in his bed and made his way downstairs. Only Mrs. Weasley was up by this point and she wished him a good morning before starting on breakfast. Harry sat down at the kitchen table with two pieces of parchment and began writing his two letters.

The first letter was to Sirius. It explained everything that happened in the last 24 hours and urged him to come back and make contact with Madam Bones as soon as possible. To Harry, it was a relief knowing that Sirius was unlikely to be met with the Dementor's Kiss randomly in his travels. However, he didn't want to risk some wanna-be hired wand killing Sirius for a bounty.

The second letter was to Daphne. Harry paused at the start of the letter and fidgeted with the quill in his hands. When he saw the letter he was sending to Sirius, he was a little ashamed by the penmanship. He decided to take extra care in writing Daphne's so that his writing would be legible. Thirty minutes later, Harry was just putting the final touches on his letter when he was joined by Hermione and Ginny. Hermione looked at him quizzically about the two letters he was writing.

"What are you writing there, Harry?" Hermione asked him.

Harry looked up quickly and stammered. "Just a letter to Padfoot." Harry glanced sideways at Ginny who seemed to still be waking up.

"And the other one?" Hermione pressed.

Harry blushed at this question. "Just another friend…" He said cryptically and got up quickly to give the letters to Hedwig.

Daphne had written back this morning with a short letter that ended with her saying that she hoped to see and talk with him on the Hogwarts Express. Sirius had yet to write back, but Harry figured that was because he was outside Britain somewhere. He hoped that everything was alright.

* * *

Harry smiled as he looked out the window on the way to London. His time at the Burrow had been a lot of fun. He, Ron, the twins, Charlie, Bill, and Ginny played Quidditch several times. Harry was impressed with Ginny's flying ability, and he could tell her brothers were equally as shocked with this skill. When Harry praised her after their first game was over, Ginny blushed as deep as her hair color. She disappeared up in her room for the rest of the afternoon after that.

Harry's mind shifted to his arrival at the campsite for the Quidditch World Cup.

Seeing wizards and witches from all around the world, including young witches and wizards from other wizarding schools made a big impact on Harry. Sure, he supposed that he always knew there were other wizarding schools. Hagrid told him, when they first met, that Hogwarts was the best wizarding school in Britain. Would that not imply there were other wizarding schools where other wizards and witches learned Charms, Potions, etc.? Harry, though, had never really given it a thought. Now that he had, though, he felt one word best described his feeling: intimidated.

Harry wanted to be successful. Ever since returning to the Wizarding World, Harry realized he was famous for something he had no control over and could not remember without the assistance of a dementor. Harry wanted to make his parents proud and succeed in his life. After his discussion with Roxanne Greengrass, Harry realized he was not succeeding in this ambition up to this point in his Hogwarts career. He comforted himself with the fact that he was nowhere near the worst in his house, let alone his year.

However, the realization of potential outside competition unsettled him in ways he could not yet describe. He may not be the worst in his house, but he would be out in the world in four short years; competing for jobs with everyone, not just Hogwarts. He resolved to do better this year and hoped he found a potential study partner in Daphne. Hermione, while she was his friend, was still too intense for Harry to really enjoy studying with her.

Harry's recollection of the World Cup jumped forward to when Mr. Weasley woke them all up telling them that wizards in masks were attacking the campsite. The scenes Harry saw that night also unsettled him, but in a different way. Harry had seen magic used on muggles before. One of his favorite memories was when Hagrid caused Dudley to grow a pig's tail. He knew that wizards had the ability to overpower muggles if they wanted/needed to. He had not seen that power put to use in as malicious a way as that night at the Quidditch World Cup.

Seeing the Roberts family floating in the air without their consent. Seeing Mrs. Roberts' dress pulled over her head, with her trying to cover herself up the best she could. Seeing the abject terror in the little children's faces. All of this had struck a chord with Harry. Magic was the most amazing and impressive thing Harry had ever seen. However, that magic could be just as destructive as it could be amazing. There was a responsibility with the use of magic and that responsibility was not appreciated by some wizards. There was a danger from those wizards and unless you were prepared to face that danger, you were helpless to assist those in need. Based on their encounter with Draco Malfoy in the forest, where he all but admitted to his father being one of those masked individuals, Harry realized that the danger from those wizards was closer than he had ever really considered.

This danger was somewhat mitigated though, with the assistance of the aurors. Harry could not help but smile when he thought about Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, and Percy coming back to the camp and letting them know that most of the masked individuals had been captured. They did not know the names of those individuals captured so they would all have to wait till the news was released. That information would come the following morning when they got back to the Burrow.

Harry felt exceptionally tired after the long day at the Quidditch World Cup, and the subsequent Death Eater attack in the middle of the night. There was some crowding around the portkey departure point, but eventually they took a rubber tire back to Stoatshead Hill. The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione walked back through Ottery St. Catchpole and up the road to the Burrow. Harry was jarred out of his thoughts of breakfast and a mid-morning nap when a cry echoed down the lane.

"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!" Harry looked up to see Mrs. Weasley running down the lane toward them. "I've been so worried Arthur!" She cried as she flung her arms around his neck. When she did this, the morning issue of the Daily Prophet she was holding fell to the ground. Looking down, Harry saw the headline: _ATTACK AT QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP: MINISTER'S GUEST CAUGHT TERRORIZING CAMPSITE_. This headline was coupled with two large side-by-side photos: one of Lucius Malfoy struggling as he was taken away by aurors, and another of Cornelius Fudge looking dumbly at the camera.

As they walked the final steps to the Burrow, Mrs. Weasley was still fawning over Fred and George. She was feeling particularly regretful about the fight they had right before leaving for the Quidditch World Cup. Mrs. Weasley was in tears thinking that the last thing she ever said to Fred and George was they didn't get enough O.W.L.s. Mr. Weasley was reading the article on the front page of the Daily Prophet while Percy looked over his shoulder.

"I knew it," said Mr. Weasley heavily. " _Ministry bluders…lax security…Dark wizards running unchecked…national disgrace…Minister is a dark wizard or incompetent…_ Who wrote this? Ah…of course…Rita Skeeter."

Percy seemed to agree with Mr. Weasley's assessment and went off on a tangent about Rita Skeeter saying his job was pointless. Before he could get very far, Mr. Weasley interrupted with a question.

"Molly? Do you know what she means here about the other arrests, including Barty Crouch?"

Percy gasped following this statement and everyone else stopped in the middle of the lane. Mrs. Weasley took a second to get herself under control as she was still clinging to Fred and George.

"Oh, Arthur! In yesterday evening's prophet, the Ministry announced that Barty Crouch Sr. was arrested for releasing his son from Azkaban, keeping him hidden under an Imperious curse, and attacking Bertha Jorkins when she discovered him."

Percy looked like he just swallowed a lemon and was close to fainting. The rest of the group looked shocked at this revelation.

Harry barely saw Percy or Mr. Weasley after that moment at the Burrow. Both of them rushed off to the Ministry to assist in any way they could. Harry understood the Ministry's reasoning on releasing the news of the arrests the night of the Quidditch World Cup Final. It was likely that information would not even make the front page of the Prophet with the coverage of the game. Ironically, the information was "below the fold" on the Prophet but only because the attack at the World Cup was the headline.

All-in-all, the Ministry and Minister Fudge in particular were under serious fire from the newspaper and general wizarding public. A department head committing multiple crimes, the Minister's personal guest a terrorist, and a potentially innocent man sitting in Azkaban for over a decade did not add up to a positive situation for Fudge. Fudge was under such a microscope that he pledged to completely remove himself and his office from any of the investigations. All the investigations, charges, and trials would be headed by Amelia Bones with little to no interference by the Minister. Harry thought this was all for the better, considering how close Malfoy and Fudge seemed to be as well as Fudge not believing Harry about Sirius' innocence.

* * *

Yes, things had been quite busy over the past week. So busy that outside of describing what happened to him when Amelia came to Privet Drive, Harry had been unable to tell Ron and Hermione about his surprisingly positive encounter with the Greengrass females. Judging by Ron's overall attitude, Harry thought that was a good idea. Ron seemed to be in an awful mood heading into this year. He was constantly comparing his possessions to Harry's and bemoaning his lack of nice clothes, pet, trunk, etc. Harry was beginning to get sick of it and spent most of his time trying to minimize his possessions when talking to Ron. For her part, Hermione was also walking on eggshells around Ron and trying not to find ways to instigate an argument with him. Harry was trying to think of ways to help Ron get over his inadequacy and jealousy issues when the taxis pulled up to King's Cross Station. Within a half hour, Fred, George, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were on the train, waving out the window at the retreating forms of Bill and Mrs. Weasley.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. Hermione had gotten her Arithmancy and Ancient Runes books out of her trunk and was trying to read both at the same time. Ron was looking through a Quidditch magazine while occasionally reading lines out loud from an article titled, "Will the Chudley Cannons be last or second-to-last in the final standing this season?" Harry continued to think about his time at the Quidditch World Cup when a page in Hermione's Arithmancy book caught his attention.

"Hermione, do you mind if I take a look at that?" Harry asked.

Hermione raised her head from her Ancient Runes book, nodded, and handed the Arithmancy book to Harry while burying her nose back in Ancient Runes. Harry began reading the chapter which covered the mathematical representation of spells learned in a wizard or witch's first year in school. The first equation Harry saw was a mathematical representation of the "Lumos" charm with the "Nox" charm just underneath it. Harry was taken back to his muggle math classes as he realized that "Nox" was just the "Lumos" charm with a zero placed in front of it.

All-in-all the chapter was fascinating and got Harry really thinking about the magic he was using. The end of the chapter implied that mathematical representations of magic could lead to new spells being developed as the mathematics were better understood. He barely noticed that an hour had already passed on their train ride to Hogwarts and the rainy sky was darkening further. Standing up, Harry excused himself to go to the washroom and stepped out of the compartment.

Walking through a couple of train cars, Harry eventually spotted Daphne, Astoria, and (who he presumed was) Tracy sitting in a compartment. He opened the door and the three girls looked up at their guest.

"Hey Daphne and Astoria. How are you doing?" Harry said, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

Astoria squealed, "HARRY, COME IN!" and jumped off the bench toward Harry. She grabbed his hand, pulled him into the compartment. With only the slightest amount of subtlety, Astoria pushed Harry down on the compartment bench so close to Daphne that Harry only just managed not to land right on her lap. Daphne rolled her eyes at Astoria while fighting a blush.

"Don't mind her, Harry." Daphne said. "We are doing fine. Just telling Astoria about some of the classes she will be taking this year." Daphne turned to Tracy. "This is my friend, Tracy. Tracy, this is Harry Potter."

Harry greeted Tracy with a small wave. "So, Astoria. Have you figured out how you are going to battle the dementor?" Harry said, causing Tracy and Daphne to bust out in laughter. Daphne even placed her hand on Harry's arm as she laughed, causing Harry's face to get hot.

Following this statement, the four students fell into easy conversation discussing what they had done over the summer. When Harry headed back to his compartment with Hermione and Ron an hour later, he could count Tracy as another new friend. Hermione and Ron were arguing about something when Harry got back to the compartment, but they both stopped when Harry opened the door.

"Harry, where did you go for so long?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, just visiting with some classmates." Harry said aloofly. "Has Malfoy made his annual visit?"

"No, haven't seen the blonde ponce at all." Ron said. "Figure he is licking his wounds from his father's arrest?"

"Yeah, maybe." Harry shrugged. With that, the friends settled back for the rest of the train ride. They had to make a mad dash to the carriages to avoid the rain, but soon they were all seated in the Great Hall waiting for the sorting to take place.

"That must be Mad-Eye Moody!" Ron exclaimed, looking up at the staff table. Harry turned his head and saw what was left of Moody. His face was covered in scars and he had a magical eyeball rotating around his head.

"Glad we know the Defense Teacher isn't a former/current Death Eater." Harry said gratefully. The article in the Daily Prophet about Wormtail's arrest had detailed the plan to replace Mad-Eye this year at Hogwarts. The reason behind this move was not released, but the Prophet supposed this was an attempt to kill Albus Dumbledore. Further along the table, next to Dumbledore, a woman sat talking with him. Harry could not get a good look at her from where he was sitting.

"Hurry up! I'm so hungry, I could eat a hippogriff." Complained Ron. "Where are those dumb firsties?"

"With all that rain out there, they didn't take the first years across the lake…." Harry began but stopped as the entire first year class walked in behind Professor McGonagall drenched head-to-toe. A small boy obviously wearing Hagrid's cloak waved towards Colin Creevey.

This young boy yelled out, "I fell in the lake!" to Colin. Colin replied back with, "COOL!" and a thumbs up. Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall made her way up to the front of the room and began calling names. The small boy that Harry now knew was Denis Creevey was sorted into Gryffindor.

"Greengrass, Astoria!" McGonagall cried out.

Astoria stepped forward to the stool, picked up the hat, and placed it on her head. The silence continued for about a minute, causing some murmuring among the students. Astoria started squirming on the stool but her face could not be seen. It seemed as if she was having a conversation with the hat. Harry knew from experience that this happened with difficult sorts that could go into multiple houses.

"NO!" Astoria yelled out suddenly, causing all conversation to stop again.

The hat appeared to chuckle at this outburst before yelling, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry and the rest of the house clapped for Astoria as she hopped off the stool with a sweet smile on her face. She almost skipped over to the Gryffindor table and plopped down a couple of seats down from Harry. She caught his eye and he gave her a thumbs up. The rest of the sorting continued as normal and then it was time to eat.

Harry loved Mrs. Weasley's cooking but it did not hold a candle to the feast that he got at Hogwarts. As Harry ate, he cast surreptitious glances over at the Slytherin table toward Daphne. She was eating amicably and talking with Tracy, casting glances over at him and Astoria. Harry caught her eye and they shared a small smile before returning to their dinners.

Once dinner was finished, Dumbledore stood to address the Hall. He went through the normal announcements for the year until he reached an announcement about the Quidditch Cup.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

"WHAT?!" Harry gasped. The rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and teams from other houses looked shocked at this. Harry saw Daphne had a look of extreme disappointment on her face. Dumbledore just continued to talk.

"That is due to an event starting in October. This year, Hogwarts will have the honor of hosting a very exciting event. An event that has not been held for over a century. It is my great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

For some in the hall, this announcement made a huge impact. "YOU'RE JOKING!" Fred exclaimed. For the rest, it was not till Dumbledore explained what the Triwizard Tournament was that they all joined in with the excitement. Harry, for his part, was excited for the tournament and to interact with some students from the other schools. Many students appeared to be excited and many seemed to want to participate and be one of the champions.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy…"

"Hem…hem…." A sound came from next to Dumbledore. The woman sitting next to Dumbledore stood and Harry got his first good look at her. She was a short, squat woman who looked like a large, pale toad. She wore a green tweed dress with a pink fuzzy cardigan on top which did not do much to remove the toad similarity from Harry's mind.

Dumbledore smiled. "Since the Ministry is sponsoring this event, they have sent a representative to make sure things go smoothly. Let me introduce Delores Umbridge, Undersecretary to Minister Fudge, who will be joining us for part of the year."

"Thank you Professor Dumbledore. Now, children, the Ministry is very interested in making sure things go smoothly with the Triwizard Tournament." Umbridge began in a simpering, high-pitched voice. "Due to Mr. Crouch's recent arrest, the potential dangers this school almost faced this year, and the danger of the tournament no children will be allowed to participate. Only those who are 17 or older will be allowed to compete."

This statement elicited groans and complaints from the majority of the population. Umbridge began to get visibly upset at the reaction from the students. "SILENCE!" Dumbledore yelled out. Umbridge took a second to compose herself before continuing in the same voice.

"This is purely for your protection. Now, I will return in October when the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrive and will stay at Hogwarts till the final task of the Triwizard Tournament. Students are encouraged to come see me if they have any questions or see anything which could impact the tournament."

 **A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for the long delay on this. This chapter has a lot of similarities to the book which caused me a bunch of issues in writing it. I decided to just power through and feel better about the story going forward. Hope you all enjoyed it. I definitely enjoyed my "attempt" at writing OP, unrealistic FF at the beginning of this chapter.**

 **Until next time, have a good one!**


	6. In Which Minerva Reads the Newspaper

**Chapter 6: In Which Minerva McGonagall Reads the Newspaper**

 **D** **isclaimer: I own nothing but this fanfic because...you know...I'm not a literary genius.**

Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration Mistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had three great loves of her life. First, she loved magic. Ever since she was a young girl, her mother would show her a new spell every week, fascinating her every time. Minerva was a half-blood with a muggle father and witch mother. Her mother hid magic from her father until Minerva was born and began showing signs of accidental magic. The laws of Wizarding Britain were very strict on when and how muggles could be told about magic without subsequent obliviation. Her father had taken the news of his wife and daughter being witches surprisingly well. He was fascinated with the abilities of his wife and the accidental magic of his daughter.

When Minerva reached Hogwarts, she loved her classes but was especially passionate in Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts where she could perform magic. During her summer vacations, Minerva's father would take her out behind their rural house and ask her to teach him the magic she learned at school this year. Minerva would always glance nervously toward the kitchen where she knew her mother was before she would pull out her wand and perform spells for him. Of all the magic that her father saw her perform over the years, he was most fascinated by Transfiguration.

He would always say to her in a thick Scottish accent, "Non-magical folk kin mak' things float as weel. But nothin' but magic kin caw a human intae a dog."

Minerva McGonagall entered her fifth year at Hogwarts with a significant amount of determination to show her father how magic could turn a "human intae a dog". After two years of practice with her side-project, Minerva got the chance to show her father an animagus transformation during Christmas Break of her Seventh Year. From then on, her father's saying was changed to "…nothin' but magic kin caw a human intae a cat."

It was during the summer after her graduation from Hogwarts that Minerva met and began a romance with a young, muggle man. The relationship progressed rapidly and he proposed to Minerva before the summer even ended. Minerva was so shocked by the proposal that she said, "Yes" immediately without thinking about it. Later that evening, after telling her parents about the engagement, she excused herself to grab some air. Her father found her behind the house, sitting in quiet contemplation.

Her father did not say anything, he just sat down beside her, allowing her to guide the conversation.

"I would have to give up magic…" Minerva began. "I would have to do what mom did. Hide my wand till we have a magical child." Minerva sighed.

Minerva's father did not respond right away, allowing Minerva to continue thinking. It was several minutes where father and daughter only watched the stars and felt the warm, summer evening breeze.

"Ya know, I cannae imagine life wi'oot you and yer mother. Whin I foun' out aboot magic, I could nae believe yer mother decided tae give that up fur me. Whin I asked her aboot it, she laughed at me and just said that 'twas fur she loved me. Love sometimes requires sacrifice, mah bairn. Th' question you need tae ask yersel' is, kin you make that sacrifice fur love?"

In the end, Minerva did make the sacrifice for love. For her love of magic, Minerva sacrificed her relationship and ended her engagement.

* * *

The second love of Minerva McGonagall's life was teaching. The fall after her graduation, Minerva joined the Ministry of Magic while also studying for a Mastery in Transfiguration. Minerva found her work at the Ministry boring and full of bureaucratic paperwork. There was very little "magic" and wonder in the Ministry of Magic. She missed Hogwarts and the school's atmosphere. She missed finding others who shared her passion for magic and learning. She missed seeing the joy and wonder in first years' eyes when they took in the Great Hall for the first time. She missed showing her magic to someone who had never seen the spell before, like her father.

So, after two years, Minerva found herself back in Hogwarts; teaching students transfiguration. Her first class was a group of second years who were attempting to remember and practice what they learned in their first year. Minerva stood rigid on her desk, observing the class in her cat animagus form. As the time for the start of class passed, the students nervously started looking toward the door for the new Transfiguration mistress. Minerva waited for a few more minutes, until the class got restless and students began talking among themselves, asking where was the teacher. With a thin lipped smile, Minerva leaped off her desk, transforming in midair, and stood before a group of shocked second years. With a quick wave of her wand, her desk turned into a pig and back within the blink of an eye. The excited chattering of the students as they walked out of that first class told Minerva that she had found what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

The final great love in Minerva's life could also be tied back to her father. When her mother finally told her father about magic, her mother started getting the Daily Prophet delivered to their house. Minerva's father loved the newspaper. He loved the stories. He loved the advertisements. He loved the moving pictures. He read the paper more than her mother did.

The love spread to his daughter as he would sit Minerva on his lap in the parlor in the evening and they would read the paper together. He would ask her what she thought about this person or that person. He would examine her chin to make sure he didn't need to order any wart cream from " _Madame Pimperton's Tonics and Potions_ " while she giggled at his antics.

Minerva grew up with a great passion for the news. She would use her break during school days to read the Daily Prophet. Sadly, the past few years had seen a decrease in quality of reporting standards at the Prophet with the rise of Rita Skeeter's articles. Nowadays, Minerva spent more time looking for the "real" story behind the story that was written.

It was this final passion that was occupying her time the evening the students of Hogwarts were due to return for the year from their summer holiday.

* * *

 **THE DAILY PROPHET: THE WIZARD WORLD'S BEGUILING BROADSHEET OF CHOICE**

 **1 SEPTEMBER 1994**

 **PROFILE OF A CRIMINAL: PETER PETTIGREW**

 **BY: PETER BLOTTING**

 _Welcome back, dear readers, to our ongoing series of articles taking an in-depth investigation of the criminals captured this summer. Today's issue concerns Peter Pettigrew, the thought-dead wizard who may be more villain than hero once we witness his trial later this month. Peter was a rather unremarkable student when he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the years 1971-1978. His closest friends at the school were James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. After graduation, Peter took an active role in the Wizarding War, battling Death Eaters several times while working odd jobs._

 _When 'He Who Must Not Be Named' targeted Lily and James Potter, the two went under the Fidelius Charm. The Fidelius Charm, for those readers who are not familiar, hides the location of a property through the use of a Secret Keeper. The location of the hidden property cannot be found unless the Secret Keeper willingly tells another the location. It was originally thought that Lily and James Potter chose Sirius Black as the Secret Keeper. However, according to the Ministry indictment against Peter Pettigrew, the Potters actually chose Peter Pettigrew as the Secret Keeper._

Minerva sighed at these words. She, like almost all of the Wizarding World, believed that Sirius Black had been the Potters Secret Keeper. She was as shocked as the rest of the staff this past spring when Albus discussed the events that led to Remus Lupin's departure from Hogwarts. She felt horrible about Sirius' suffering in Azkaban and the part she played (however small) in putting him in that horrible place for over 10 years.

Minerva continued reading the article as it described the confrontation with Sirius Black and death of the Muggles in the middle of the street. The article was well-written and covered both the "original" story behind the confrontation and the one the Ministry now said was the truth. Minerva's heart started beating faster when she reached the story of how Pettigrew was captured.

 _Pettigrew is alleged to have been captured in the company of 'He Who Must Not Be Named', though these claims have not been substantiated beyond Ministry rumors. According to another source within the Ministry, Amelia Bones dueled the Dark Lord and defeated him for the second time. The question then becomes, if the Dark Lord could return a second time, when will he come back a third time?_

 _Pettigrew's trial is set for the 30_ _th_ _of October. In related news, the Ministry has officially classified Sirius Black as a "Person of Interest" instead of a suspect or criminal. They have removed the kiss on sight order from him and officials at the Ministry say they just want to talk with Black about what happened all those years ago._

Minerva put down the paper and began to get ready to receive the students for the year. She hoped that Sirius Black was soon found and set free. She anticipated an emotional discussion with her former student and looked forward to the joyous reunion of godfather and godson. Minerva's spirits were decidedly lifted as she closed the door to her office and walked down to meet Hagrid and the First Years.

* * *

Minerva always loved the first day of classes. They were always a perfect example of organized chaos with arranging the student schedules, setting up the prefect rounds, helping new students find classrooms, and performing her now-infamous animagus transformation for the First Years. So when Minerva entered her office just after lunch for her break period, she was quite looking forward to taking a rest and reading the Daily Prophet.

 **THE DAILY PROPHET: THE WIZARD WORLD'S BEGUILING BROADSHEET OF CHOICE**

 **2 SEPTEMBER 1994**

 **SEARCH OF MALFOY MANOR CONDUCTED: HIDDEN 'DARK ARTS' ROOM DISCOVERED**

 **BY: ANDY SMUDGLEY**

 _Ministry of Magic officials searched Malfoy Manor in a raid yesterday evening following Lucius Malfoy's arrest at the Quidditch World Cup Final last Saturday. Officials from the Auror Department were joined by volunteers from other departments to conduct a search of the manor looking for potentially dark artifacts. The search initially turned up nothing of interest until Arthur Weasley, head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, found a secret room underneath the Drawing Room. Officials state that Mr. Weasley gained knowledge of this room following his previous raid in December 1992. However, at the time, further raids on Mr. Malfoy's manor were suspended for (as of yet) unknown reasons._

 _When officials stepped into the room under the drawing room, they found a treasure trove of dark artifacts. The artifacts found are listed below, but these objects will certainly add additional charges to Mr. Malfoy. A trial for Mr. Malfoy has not been set, but he is being held at the Ministry as a suspected terrorist pending a trial. The list of artifacts found at Malfoy Manor include:_

At this moment, Minerva was pulled from her paper by a knock at her door. With a sigh, she called "Come in!" and the door slowly opened; revealing Harry Potter.

"Professor, may I have a moment of your time?" Harry said, somewhat timidly.

"Yes, Potter. Please come in."

"Professor…." Harry began, pausing as he took a deep breath. "I was wondering if there was any way to switch out of Divination and into Arithmancy?"

Minerva raised an eyebrow at the young student standing before her. "That is highly irregular, Potter. While I won't argue the decision to drop Divination, adding Arithmancy will be very hard as you will be a year behind your peers."

Harry looked dejected at these words. "I understand, Professor. I just really don't want to sit through another year of hearing my own death predicted. Then, on the train, I read a chapter from Hermione's Arithmancy book. I found it really interesting…" He trailed off at these words and began walking towards the door.

"Potter!" Minerva called after him and Harry turned around. "Let us discuss this with Professor Vector, I believe her fourth year class is about to start. I will say though, that if she lets you into the class, it will require a significant amount of work to catch up. The normal effort you put into classes will not be anywhere near enough."

"I understand, Professor." Harry agreed, quickly.

Minerva then led Harry out of the office and they quietly headed toward the Arithmancy classroom. Minerva thought about asking Harry about Sirius Black, but decided against it; keeping her usual professional relationship with students. Minerva walked into the Arithmancy classroom with Harry a few steps behind her. The room was already quite filled with students waiting for class to start. Hermione Granger had a surprised look on her face seeing Professor McGonagall enter the classroom with Harry.

"Professor Vector, may we have a word with you?" Minerva said, and she, Harry, and Septima stepped to the far corner of the classroom.

Within five minutes, Minerva was walking toward the door alone as Harry was now a member of fourth year Arithmancy. Septima had given Harry a similarly stern warning about working hard to catch up. She was willing to give him a trial till Halloween. If he hadn't sufficiently caught up by then, she would release him from the course.

As Minerva reached the door, she turned around to look at one of her favorite Gryffindors (though she would never admit this out loud). Harry was looking toward Hermione who was sitting at a table next to Susan Bones. Seeing the seat next to Hermione taken, Harry proceeded to move to another open seat next to Daphne Greengrass. As he started pulling out parchment and quill to take notes, Minerva gave a quick smile, before turning and marching back to her office to finish reading her paper.

* * *

 **THE DAILY PROPHET: THE WIZARD WORLD'S BEGUILING BROADSHEET OF CHOICE**

 **31 OCTOBER 1994**

 **PETTIGREW FOUND GUILTY OF ALL CHARGES: SIRIUS BLACK DECLARED INNOCENT**

 **BY: E. LIMUS**

 _In a shocking trial in front of the Wizengamot yesterday afternoon, Peter Pettigrew was found guilty of all charges including betraying Lily and James Potter and the deaths of twelve Muggles in 1981. Pettigrew, who maintained that he had been coerced and tricked into every one of the charges, was unanimously found guilty following the recounting of his interview under veritaserum by Amelia Bones. While some in the courtroom questioned the use of veritaserum on a suspect, Madam Bones put those fears to rest by explaining that the suspect was deemed deceased by this very same body. Peter Pettigrew was sentenced to receive the Dementor's Kiss, though this action was not unanimous. After the session, a Wizengamot member, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke about the decision to give Pettigrew the Kiss._

" _Not only did Pettigrew cause the deaths of the Potters and those Muggles, he shows no remorse AND forced Sirius Black to rot in Azkaban in his stead. Adding these components to the case made it easy to cast the vote for the Kiss."_

 _Immediately following the trial, Albus Dumbledore issued a motion to acquit and expunge all charges from one, Sirius Black who was also in attendance in the courtroom. This motion also passed unanimously. Mr. Black immediately shouted in triumph and proceeded to snog the witch next to him, 95 year old Griselda Marchbanks. This lasted till Madam Marchbanks stunned the exuberant Black, causing him to fall face first onto his seat._

Minerva chuckled at this point in the story. Yes, that did sound like Sirius Black in the courtroom. She was glad the years in Azkaban had not completely destroyed the young man she once knew. She wondered when Harry Potter would find out his godfather was free. Hopefully, Harry could live with Sirius rather than those horrible Muggles he currently resided with.

Harry Potter. Minerva could not help but smile when thinking about her favorite current Gryffindor. Just when she thought the young man would no longer surprise her, he found a way to do just that. She knew the stories of his heroics from his first three years and could not believe some of the things he had done. The only fault she could find in the young man was that he was only a slightly above average student, nothing more. This was sad because that status was almost purely due to his work ethic and not his magical ability.

However, Harry proved that assumption wrong in the last two months. Septima told her just this week that Harry was catching up wonderfully, and was one of her most curious and enthusiastic students. Minerva received similar reports from several other teachers and she saw that same result in her Transfiguration classes. Harry Potter had turned into a good student and was well on his way to being exceptional.

Minerva exited her office and headed down to the Great Hall for the Goblet of Fire selection ceremony. As she reached the doors, she happened to see Harry Potter walk into the hall with Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, Neville Longbottom, and Hermione Granger. These five had developed a sort of study group. Minerva was not quite sure how Mr. Longbottom joined the group, but the three young women joined together to help Harry catch up in Arithmancy. She nodded at them before proceeding into the hall for the selection ceremony.

Minerva was lost in thought about Sirius Black's return to freedom and society and just barely noticed Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour being selected as champions. Her focus returned to the selection as she saw Dumbledore grab the third piece of parchment.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

Minerva clapped along with the rest of the staff for Cedric. She thought it was a good selection and Cedric would represent Hogwarts well.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real –"

Dumbledore stopped speaking as the Goblet of Fire elicited what sounded like a cough and the flames extinguished. Before Dumbledore started talking again, a sharp " _hem, hem_ " came from Delores Umbridge at the staff table. Minerva barely suppressed a groan as Delores stood next to her and began speaking with her annoying voice.

"I would also like to remind you children that I will now be permanently assigned to Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore has graciously allowed me the use of an office on the third floor. If you notice anything suspicious about the tournament, please feel free to come talk with me about it."

Minerva rolled her eyes and got up to leave as Albus dismissed everyone and proceeded to talk with the Triwizard Champions.

* * *

 **THE DAILY PROPHET: THE WIZARD WORLD'S BEGUILING BROADSHEET OF CHOICE**

 **21 NOVEMBER 1994**

 **MINISTER ANNOUNCES 'HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED' TASK FORCE**

 **BY: PETER BLOTTING**

 _In a staggering confirmation of rumors circling regarding the potential reappearance of 'He Who Must Not Be Named', Minister Fudge announced a combined Task Force consisting of members of the Auror Office and Department of Mysteries to investigate the possibility of the return of the Dark Lord._

" _Given the recent confrontation between our brave aurors and 'He Who Must Not Be Named' during the arrest of Peter Pettigrew, I decided to initiate this joint Task Force to investigate You Know Who's reappearance and take any means necessary to prevent his resurgence."_

 _This news comes as a shock to many who did not believe the rumors surrounding the Dark Lord's return and believed him to be gone for good. For more information on the members of the Task Force: See Page 2. Interview with Historian Bathilda Bagshot: Page 3. How can we start to protect ourselves? Page 4._

Minerva looked up from her paper with a shudder as the thought of Voldemort rising to power once again unnerved her. She could not help but move her thoughts to Harry Potter following this news. He had prevented Voldemort from gaining power during his first year. Sometimes she had to shake her head at all the young man had accomplished during his time at Hogwarts.

Moving her gaze over to the window, Minerva saw the subject of her thoughts flying on his Firebolt over the grounds. He seemed to be racing another rider in a lap around the Quidditch Pitch. Upon closer inspection, Minerva realized that he was racing Daphne Greengrass and she was keeping up with him quite well.

"Must keep an eye on that one," Minerva murmured, "may be some serious competition for my lions during next year's Quidditch Cup."

Minerva watched Harry and Miss Greengrass pull up as they reached the announcer's box. They seemed to talk for a minute before something from the Forbidden Forest got their attention. They both turned their brooms and began flying over the top of the Forbidden Forest. Minerva made to go down and tell them to come back before she stopped herself. Harry had faced more danger in that forest than most of the staff. She would just have a discussion with him later about not setting a bad example for the other students.

* * *

 **THE DAILY PROPHET: THE WIZARD WORLD'S BEGUILING BROADSHEET OF CHOICE**

 **24 NOVEMBER 1994**

 **MALFOY TRIAL CONTINUES DESPITE RENEWED IMPERIOUS CLAIMS**

 **BY: ANDY SMUDGLEY**

 _The trial of Lucius Malfoy will continue next week despite the defendant's request to dismiss charges by reason of Imperius Curse. Mr. Malfoy attempted to claim that the returned 'He Who Must Not Be Named' visited Malfoy Manor days before his subsequent defeat at the hands of the aurors. Malfoy stated that the Dark Lord placed him under the Imperious Curse and forced him to hide dark artifacts in his house._

 _The story fell apart, however, when Madam Bones began to question the defendant. Madam Bones provided evidence that many of the artifacts contained layers of dust that would take longer than a few weeks to achieve. Mr. Malfoy could also not provide an adequate explanation as to why the Imperious did not break after the Dark Lord's defeat at the hands of the aurors. Following this questioning, the Wizengamot denied Mr. Malfoy's request for dismissal of charges and set the date for trial on 2 December._

Minerva put down her paper and began walking down to the grounds for the first Triwizard Task. As Deputy Headmistress, she would be there to escort the competitors out of the dragon pit, and she could intervene in the task if necessary. Minerva watched the students walk down to the stands around the dragon pit with the three champions walking toward the champions' tent. She noticed Cedric Diggory wave towards the students and turned to see Harry Potter give the young man a thumbs up. Minerva moved down to the medical tent to wait for the champions.

The first competitor was Cedric Diggory as he faced a Swedish Short-Snout, trying to retrieve a golden egg from the nesting mother. When the task began, Diggory immediately raised his wand in the air before turning his wand to a rock across the arena. Diggory waved his wand in a complex motion that Minerva immediately recognized. The rock began to morph and changed into a Labrador Retriever which barked at the young man before turning toward the dragon. The dragon roared at the new foe as the dog began to run around the rocks in the arena.

Minerva watched the dog, impressed with the transfiguration shown by the young champion. The dragon seemed entranced by the dog but kept darting its eyes around, searching for Diggory as well. Diggory, meanwhile, seemed to have disappeared immediately following the transfiguration. Less than a minute later, Minerva saw Diggory come around the stands on his broom and dive down for the golden egg. Minerva felt a thrill of excitement as she realized the dragon had not spotted him yet, still searching for the dog.

Just as Diggory grabbed the egg, the dragon turned its head and spotted him. With a flick of its tail, the dragon attempted to knock the young man off his broom. The tail hit home and Diggory was knocked off his broom and towards the medical tent. However, this action also knocked Diggory out of the range of the dragon with the golden egg still in his arms. A whistle sounded and the crowd roared as the dragon handlers ran in to calm the dragon down.

Minerva ran over to Diggory who was grinning up at her even though his shoulder was cut and he appeared to have a broken arm. Minerva took him into the medical tent where Madam Pomfrey quickly fixed him up. Minerva watched the other two champions compete without many horrible injuries. Fleur Delacour received some minor burns from her dragon and while Viktor Krum was not hurt, half of the eggs were crushed during his task. Minerva was sad to see the loss of so many young dragons for a friendly tournament. At the end of the task, Krum and Diggory were tied for first with Delacour only a couple points behind.

As she went in to check on the champions, she noticed Harry Potter standing by Cedric's bed holding the young man's broom.

"Here you go, Cedric. Your broom landed on my friend Ron's head. Nice flying and magic there! Too bad the dragon saw you at the last second." Harry said.

"Thanks, Harry!" Cedric said and lowered his voice to a whisper. "And thanks for telling me about the dragon. I made sure Fleur and Viktor knew as well. Definitely helped me in planning for the task!"

Minerva smiled at the interaction between the two students before clearing her throat. The two students looked shocked as they turned toward Minerva.

"10 points each to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. For supporting your champion and fair play, respectively." Minerva said before turning toward Fleur Delacour's bed to check on her.

* * *

 **THE DAILY PROPHET: THE WIZARD WORLD'S BEGUILING BROADSHEET OF CHOICE**

 **1 DECEMBER 1994**

 **HORRIFIC INJURIES DURING FIRST TRIWIZARD TASK: WHY IS THE MINISTRY TRYING TO HURT OUR CHILDREN?**

 **BY: RITA SKEETER**

 _The first task of the Triwizard Tournament took place this past week at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. During the task, each of the three champions had to face down an aggressive nesting mother dragon with no foreknowledge and only their wands to protect them. Not only did the champions need to get past the dragons, they also had to remove an egg from the dragon mothers' nest. I do not need to tell my readers how dangerous this task would be for even the most prepared witches and wizards._

 _Given all of these hardships, it is no surprise that two of the three champions received grievous injuries trying to complete the task. Young Miss Delacour from Beauxbatons, a part-Veela beauty who has stolen the hearts of many a Hogwarts student, was seriously burned by the dragon. Her perfect face is now marred by the burns inflicted by the dragon, causing many at Hogwarts to physically grimace when seeing her._

 _Young Mr. Diggory likewise suffered a horrifying injury to his right shoulder. While preliminary results were inconclusive, his right arm may be paralyzed going forward. Pray for him, dear readers, as he goes through recovery. The final competitor, Mr. Krum, while not physically injured during his task caused the dragon to squash five of its own eggs, prematurely ending the lives of these gorgeous, young dragons._

 _My question then, dear readers, is "what is the Ministry thinking allowing this task?" Many of our own children were sitting feet away watching these tasks take place. I shudder to think what would have happened if one of the dragons got loose. When will the Minister finally get his administration under control? How many other terrorists are working for him, waiting to strike out on poor, unsuspecting witches and wizards? And how many children will have to get hurt before the Minister decides to take action? Stay tuned, my dear readers, this story is not going anywhere._

Minerva shook her head at Rita Skeeter's article in the Daily Prophet. While she did agree that facing a dragon could be a dangerous prospect, the tournament officials took every precaution and the competitors were in very little real danger the whole time. Minerva continued on with her day that concluded with Fourth Year Transfiguration.

As that class was ending, Minerva cleared her throat and asked for the class' attention.

"The Yule Ball is approaching – a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above – although you may invite a younger student if you wish –"

Lavender Brown interrupted the announcement by giggling uncontrollably. Parvati Patil elbowed her as Minerva glared at the two young ladies.

"Now, though this is a time for socializing and having fun, you will not embarrass this school or house Gryffindor by having improper manners. If I believe you need to be removed from the ball, I will send you to bed myself. Now, you and your partners should be down in the Great Hall on Christmas evening no later than 6:30."

As Minerva said this, she noticed Harry Potter give a surprised and shocked look on his face. Obviously the boy had not considered the fact that one brought a date to a ball. Immediately the boy began to blush heavily. Minerva only barely suppressed a smile as she realized the boy had already identified who he wanted to ask to the ball. Minerva could only guess the individual was a pretty, young blonde haired Slytherin.

 **A/N: Hey all! So this is sort of a transition chapter. Harry will not be in the Triwizard Tournament, though his actions will certainly still impact the tournament where appropriate. Hope you all excuse the Scottish accent at the beginning as it was just something fun I was trying out. Had to balance the Scottish with making it still readable, though. Next chapter we join back up with the main characters. Don't worry, Umbridge and I have some nefarious plans for this year! Until next time, have a great one and please read and review! Finally, just a soft reminder that this story is canon from original seven books only. That means if it is not on a page in one of those seven books, I'm not going to honor it as canon for this story. In the end, the story is AU anyway, so just chuck all that under AU.**


	7. In Which Astoria Plays Matchmaker

**Chapter 7: In Which Astoria Greengrass Plays Matchmaker**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but this fanfic because…you know…I'm not a literary genius.**

If one were to ask Roxanne Greengrass to describe her daughters, she would have a much easier time pointing out their differences instead of their similarities. In truth, the similarities would start and end with, "they are both cunning, love their family, and loyal to those they care about." Beyond that simple statement, her daughters could be as different as night and day. After giving many various answers for the differences between her daughters, Roxanne finally settled on describing Daphne as the realist and Astoria as the romantic. This classification seemed to define her daughters most clearly and concisely as possible. When explicitly asked about Astoria, Roxanne would describe her as gregarious, proud, and altruistic. Astoria Greengrass would agree with every word her mother said about her if she were old enough to know what the terms "gregarious" and "altruistic" meant. If Astoria Greengrass were required to describe herself, she would say "happy." If asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, Astoria would quickly respond with the word "matchmaker."

Astoria decided at the early age of eight that she would like to be a matchmaker. She wanted to make people happy, and her favorite stories always ended with a wedding full of joy for the main characters. Night after night, her mother and she would read stories filled with drama and romance, heroism and daring, and nobility and adventure. She loved the classics, both magical and muggle. Her bookshelf not only sported well-known wizarding titles like **"The Professor and the Potioneer,"** **"A Midnight Broom Ride,"** and **"Gnome Place Like Home,"** but also muggle titles like **"Much Ado About Nothing,"** **"Sense and Sensibility,"** and **"Emma."** As much as she loved the stories, she was never able to identify with the protagonist. Astoria Greengrass would not be a naïve woman searching for the love of a man. She would not be a woman who ignored the blatantly obvious love interest to enhance the story. No, if Astoria were to be like a character from her books, she would be the narrator. Astoria would be the one to guide others to their happy ending.

For a while, Astoria had no one to guide to their inevitable happy ending. She was home alone with her parents, who were already living happily ever after. This situation only lasted until the end of the school year when Daphne came back.

Daphne.

She would be the first benefactor of Astoria's life guidance. Daphne talked too much about her school work and too little about her social life. Sure, there was the odd story about the Gryffindor seeker catching the snitch with his mouth, a troll sneaking into the castle, and the house cup robbery pulled by the Gryffindors at the end of the year. However, aside from these stories, Daphne focused on her classes, her grades, and what she would learn next year. Astoria could not help but compare Daphne to some of her favorite heroines from her beloved stories. Daphne was only beginning her story and would need a guiding hand to see her through to her happily ever after.

Astoria's role as the narrator of Daphne's life would have to wait. Daphne was gone ten months out of the year, and Astoria would not be joining her for two more years. Astoria decided to sit back and wait. She learned everything she could about her "character" (sister) and the kind of heroine she was becoming. By the Summer before Daphne's fourth year, Astoria had a checklist of features for her sister's future paramour.

He would need to like flying. That was a given. Daphne spent more time sitting on a broomstick in the Summer than she did in a chair.

He would need to have an air of mystery. Daphne quickly grew bored with people she could analyze and figure out quickly.

He would need to be kind. Noble. Thoughtful. Caring. Intelligent. He would need to take Daphne on an adventure. This last point was more of Astoria's requirement as her sister's life was too dull ever to have a novel written about her.

* * *

Luckily for Astoria, the perfect candidate fell right in her lap during that visit to Diagon Alley. Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. Astoria could not help but feel this was fate. Harry Potter would whisk her sister away to a happily ever after. Admittedly, Astoria was preoccupied with how the Hogwarts sorting took place, but after seeing Harry's interaction with Daphne at Florian Fortesque's, Astoria knew she had found her hero. Now to begin implementing her encouragement of the relationship between her sister and Harry Potter.

Sadly, Astoria had an inauspicious start to her role as the matchmaker. Harry walked into their cabin on the Hogwarts Express, and Astoria forcibly pushed him into the seat next to Daphne. This action had the desired effect of Harry and Daphne sitting next to each other. Astoria thought she had pulled this action off with at least some tact. Tracy Davis shattered that illusion after Harry left, and Daphne went to the loo.

"Astoria, you have all the subtlety of a tap-dancing Hippogriff," Tracy said.

"Huh?"

"It is pretty obvious you are trying to set Daphne up with Potter. Trust me; I know Daphne. If she thinks you are forcing her and Potter together, she will resist it even more. Merlin knows the girl could stand to find a boyfriend, but Daphne would not appreciate interference in her love life."

Astoria sat in contemplative silence for the rest of the trip. Perhaps Tracy was right. She would need to implement her role as the narrator more subtly. Daphne would most certainly resist accepting the wisdom of Astoria's insight. No, Astoria would need to change up her plans and tactics. She would need to adapt to her lack of experience in this new role. Perhaps influencing Harry would be a more prudent approach as he would be less likely to detect her machinations.

* * *

"Greengrass, Astoria!" Minerva McGonagall called out at the sorting ceremony.

Astoria strode up to the stool, sat down, and placed the sorting hat on her head. Astoria could not believe Daphne and Harry fooled her into thinking the sorting would be difficult.

"Well, my lady, some students can be difficult to sort," the hat said to her. "Yes…Yes. Difficult. Somewhat difficult. A good mind. Lots of loyalty. Oh, ho….care about your family a lot, don't you, dear? And what an ambitious role to try and play by guiding others' lives. You will need a lot of cunning to pull that off. Now, where to put you."

"Gryffindor, please, Mr. Hat," Astoria replied.

"No….I don't think that is right. You have ambition and purpose. You would be much more suited for a role in Slytherin, don't you think?"

"I would prefer Gryffindor," Astoria simply said.

"Well, that doesn't feel right…. I think it better be SLY…"

"NO! Gryffindor!" Astoria demanded.

"Alright, alright. We will send you to GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last word to the crowd in the Great Hall.

Astoria smiled, hopped off the stool, and headed to the Gryffindor table. As she sat down, she glanced at Harry Potter and then over to her sister. Yes, this would undoubtedly be for the better. As Astoria climbed into bed that night, she pulled out her diary to make the first entry at Hogwarts. She wrote about her ride on the Hogwarts Express and sorting. When she finished, she flipped over to a clean sheet and began a list.

 **Matchmaking Project #1: Daphne and Harry**

 _ **1\. Observing and Scouting**_ **: Begin to understand your hero**

 _ **2\. No Fangirls Allowed**_ **: Identify and eliminate the competition**

 _ **3\. Charm Offensive**_ **: Get Harry thinking about Daphne**

 _ **4\. Love is in the Air**_ **: Get them flying**

 _ **5\. Barrier to Entry**_ **: Minimize potential issues to the relationship**

With the preliminary list made, Astoria laid her head down and immediately fell asleep. Tomorrow she would begin her career as a matchmaker.

* * *

A few weeks into the first term, Astoria felt she had done quite well in accomplishing the items on her list without her targets knowing. She had learned a considerable amount about Harry Potter just from her casual observation in the Common room. The information she gained only confirmed her belief that Harry Potter was the right companion for her sister. Astoria's scouting also allowed her to identify one of the main potential issues in Harry's relationship with her sister. Ron Weasley.

Astoria was not impressed with Harry Potter's "best friend" so far. Ron Weasley seemed to have a permanent lousy attitude and a severe lack of patience. She always heard Ron Weasley grumbling about his lack of "nice" things, the work he needed to do for classes, and the absence of notoriety he had obtained among the Hogwarts population. He would be a problem when Daphne and Harry got together, that was certain. Serendipity did visit Astoria in her first week as Harry transitioned from Divination to Arithmancy. Harry needed to prove himself in Arithmancy and spent a considerable amount of time studying for that class. This transition and added studying seemed to create a minor rift between Harry and Ron and had the bonus of allowing Harry and Daphne to attend another class and study together. In the end, Harry and Ron were still close friends but spent much less time together.

Astoria's first plan was to have Harry think about Daphne whenever possible. To accomplish this, Astoria employed a simple technique of always bringing Daphne up whenever she passed Harry. She started this on the first day of classes when her new housemate Natalie McDonald joined her at the Gryffindor table for lunch. Astoria was sitting just a few seats down from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"So, Astoria, what class do we have this afternoon?" Natalie asked as she sat down.

"Charms. Daphne loves the class and has shown me some of the cool spells we will learn. Sadly, we don't start using our wand for a couple of weeks." Astoria replied, surreptitiously glancing at Harry, who had raised his head when Astoria said Daphne's name. Thus began her implementation of item three on her list.

* * *

By early November, Astoria knew Harry Potter was interested in her sister. The two of them studied all the time, and Harry always seemed interested in Astoria's Daphne tidbits. The only problem was that Astoria had not seen them having fun together. She needed to implement item four and get these two flying together.

The perfect situation fell right in her lap one Friday evening when she heard a discussion from some Hufflepuffs of a pick-up Quidditch game happening that Sunday at 2:00 PM. Astoria "accidentally" told Neville Longbottom the game would start at 1:00 instead; knowing full well, he would let the study group know when they got together on Saturday. When Sunday rolled around, Harry and Daphne showed up at the Quidditch pitch a full hour early. Astoria joined the group heading down to watch the game an hour later and saw Harry and Daphne flying and laughing together around the field.

By the beginning of December, Astoria Greengrass could only describe her first year at Hogwarts as amazing. She loved her classes, was having fun with her new friends, and never seemed to have a dull or boring day. Astoria would wake up every morning and immediately look out her window in Gryffindor tower. She loved the view from this spot and greeted the day by looking out over the Hogwarts grounds with a smile on her face. On this particular Friday morning, Astoria woke with a greater sense of purpose. Yesterday, Professor McGonagall told the older years about the Yule Ball and, while Astoria wished she could attend the ball, Astoria's focus was on making sure that Harry Potter asked her sister to the dance. This was above all the most critical task she had for the day as it would see the culmination of all the work she had put in since the beginning of term.

Last night she added one more item to her list: **6.** _ **Dancing in the Moonlight**_ **: Daphne and Harry at the Yule Ball**. As she headed down to breakfast, she began to think about how best to accomplish this goal. She would need to deal with Ginny Weasley first. Early in the year, Astoria identified Ginny as the most direct competition Daphne had for Harry's affection. Ginny Weasley was a competent flier, a beautiful young girl, and (most concerning) Harry spent a considerable amount of time at her house during the Summer Holidays. The only positive was that the girl seemed to be unable to talk to Harry without blushing massively. Still, Astoria could not allow for the potential of a Harry/Ginny couple at the Yule Ball. When Astoria reached the Great Hall, she made sure to sit a couple of spots down from Ginny, who just so happened to be speaking on the topic Astoria wanted to address.

"Did you hear about the Yule Ball, Alice? I wish we could go, but that will only happen if someone older asks us," Ginny said to her Gryffindor roommate.

"You probably have a good chance, Ginny. There are more fourth-year boys than girls, and you are one of the best looking third years."

Ginny blushed under the praise from Alice. "Well, here's to hoping. You know who I want to go with, but I'm sure there will be a long line of girls waiting for his invitation."

Astoria chose this moment to interject in the conversation. "OOOOHHHH! Who do you want to go with?" Astoria asked innocently.

Ginny blushed deeper at this question. "Nevermind that….he would never ask me either way…he doesn't see me like that…" Ginny trailed off.

"Well, if you want my advice," Astoria offered, "boys always seem to want what they cannot have. I've seen boys who had no interest in a girl, suddenly fall head over heels in love once that girl has a boyfriend."

"That's true, Ginny. My brother told me once that he regretted not asking out a girl in his year. It seems that he waited too long, and she ended up dating someone else."

Ginny had a contemplative look on her face. "I don't know. What if he wants to ask me later, and I already have a date?"

Astoria stared straight at Ginny. "Do you want one night at the Yule Ball with this boy, or do you want to be his girlfriend?"

Ginny's cheeks tinged red for the third time this morning. "Well, obviously, I want more…"

"Exactly! You have to play the long game!" Astoria exclaimed. This statement ended the conversation as the unspoken subject of the discussion decided to enter the Great Hall for breakfast at that time.

"Good morning," Harry said as he sat down with Hermione and Ron following behind him.

"Morning, Harry!" Astoria greeted. "What classes do you have today?"

"Arithmancy and Charms this morning," Hermione interjected. "Then, we have double Potions in the afternoon."

"Great," grumbled Ron. "More time with the snakes and the Greasy Git."

"My sister is one of those snakes," Astoria replied hotly.

"Well, good for you," Ron retorted before diving into his breakfast. Astoria could not help but huff before standing up.

"I'm full. Everyone have a good day." Astoria departed from the table. She needed to get to class and plan her route through the castle. She was excited that Harry had two courses with Daphne today and hoped he would ask her during one of those classes. If not, she was hopeful that the suggestion she planted in Ginny's mind would take root, and any potential catastrophe would be averted.

* * *

Astoria's History of Magic class that morning seemed to last forever as she wanted to see Harry and Daphne's interaction. She had not yet decided how she would guide Harry into asking her sister to the Yule Ball, but her class provided her with a lengthy brainstorming session. How could she get Harry to ask her sister to the Yule Ball? The key would be giving them some alone time today. Harry would not ask her sister in a group. She would have to hope that Harry would take the initiative and ask her sister today. If not, Astoria would need to take a more active role in pushing Harry forward.

Professor Binns had barely dismissed the class before Astoria burst out the door, heading toward the Arithmancy classroom. Astoria raced up to the seventh floor, skidding to a stop just around the corner from the Arithmancy classroom. She thought she had timed her arrival perfectly as Hermione and Susan Bones had just exited the class, still discussing the lesson. Their departure was followed by Professor Vector, who shut the door behind her and disappeared down the corridor. Astoria swore under her breath and raced back down the stairs. Astoria knew Harry would be heading to the third floor for Charms while her sister probably would be heading down to the ground floor for her Transfiguration class.

As Astoria was heading down the stairs, she observed Harry and Daphne exiting from a side corridor around the third floor. She could not hear what they were discussing, but Daphne looked impressed as she exited into the Grand Staircase. The two stood on the third-floor landing continuing their discussion while other students raced up and down the stairs. Astoria was only a flight of stairs away and blended in with the crowd before ducking behind a suit of armor. From this vantage point, Astoria could hear Harry and Daphne's conversation.

"…lots of other corridors to navigate this castle a lot quicker," Harry finished.

"Thanks, Harry! I will likely use this every day now," Daphne replied.

The two teenagers stood in silence for a few seconds before Harry interrupted.

"Say…Daphne? I was wond…I mean, did you hear about the Yule Ball?"

"Yeah, Professor Snape told us about it last night. It sounds like it will be fun. The Weird Sisters are not my favorite band, but no one can deny they play a good show."

"Yeah," Harry said breathlessly. "Well, I was hoping that you might…"

"Hey, Scarhead!" A snobbish voice interrupted this moment. "Are you bothering this fine Slytherin?"

Coming down the staircase towards Harry and Daphne was Draco Malfoy, accompanied by his two henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Actually, Malfoy, you are bothering us. Feel free to head on to Transfiguration."

"Oh, Greengrass, you wound me. I only wished to escort you to class. Besides, I want to talk to you about the Yule Ball," Malfoy replied with a confident smirk on his face.

"The only thing you need to tell me about the Yule Ball is where you will be sitting. That way, I can be sure to sit at a table on the other side of the room," Daphne retorted. Harry could not stop himself from snorting at this statement.

"What are you smiling about, Potter? You have a date for the Yule Ball yet? I didn't think so. Who would want to go with a glory-seeking, talentless half-blood like yourself? Come on, guys, the air here smells awful."

Harry could not help but respond as Malfoy continued down the stairs. "I'm surprised you are going to the Yule Ball, Malfoy. I thought Christmas Night was when they exchanged gifts in Azkaban. Figured you and your mother would want to be there to give your father a new set of prison robes." With this statement, Harry turned to Daphne. "Listen, Daph; I will see you later in Potions. Maybe we can talk some more then?"

"Sure, Harry," Daphne said and watched Harry turn to enter the Charms corridor.

"BANG!" A white spell flew past Daphne and towards Harry. Harry attempted to move out of the way but wasn't quick enough. The jinx slammed into his head, and Harry fell forward on the floor. Daphne pulled out her wand and turned towards Malfoy. Malfoy stood there with a smirk on his face.

"Teach him to insult my family, filthy half-blood," Malfoy sneered.

Daphne's anger surged, but before she could respond, there was a distinct, "HEM HEM!"

Coming up the stairs was Madam Umbridge in her pink cardigan. "What do we have here? An attack on a defenseless student? YOU! BOY! You're Lucius Malfoy's son, aren't you? Come with me. The Ministry has a few questions for you." Umbridge grabbed Malfoy by the robes and dragged him up the stairs. "Girl," Umbridge addressed Daphne, "take Mr. Potter to the Hospital Wing before going to class."

Daphne was bent over and checking on Harry, whose face was swollen and disfigured from Malfoy's stinging jinx. Daphne picked him up off the floor and led him down the stairs while Umbridge continued to drag Malfoy up to her office.

As the landing cleared, Astoria could not control her anger and kicked the suit of armor. "I DARE SAY!" The suit of armor called out.

"Oh, do be quiet," Astoria replied before running off to her next class. She was frustrated that Harry and Daphne had been interrupted. It was apparent Harry was going to ask her sister to the ball, and Draco Malfoy had to ruin it. Maybe after Potions, she thought to herself as she planned to spend the afternoon down in the dungeons waiting for her two main characters.

At lunchtime, Astoria decided to take a more active role and rushed up to the Hospital Wing. Harry Potter was gathering his books to exit the ward when Astoria came through the door.

"Hey, Harry. I heard what happened this morning. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Astoria. A little bit of hurt pride and a wish that I dodged a little faster."

"What made Malfoy attack you? I don't think I've ever seen you two interact before."

"He seemed to take issue with me talking to your sister."

"Oh?" Astoria questioned suggestively. "And what were you and my sister talking about?"

Harry blushed. "We were talking about the Yule Ball."

"Are you going to ask her to go with you?"

"What? No…I mean…maybe," Harry offered. "I'm not sure she would go with me," Harry finished quietly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Astoria said before turning and leaving the Hospital Wing. Astoria was proud of herself as she walked to lunch. Nice and subtle. Hopefully, this would boost Harry's confidence so that he would ask Daphne again.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Astoria stood in the corridor outside the Potions classroom, waiting for Snape to release the students. The door finally opened, and the students started to exit the room. Draco Malfoy was in the lead and silently walked away from the classroom at a brisk pace. Harry Potter exited a few minutes later, talking to Daphne, walking beside him. Before they had walked ten paces from the door, they were interrupted by the presence of another student.

Theodore Nott approached Harry and Daphne and asked to speak with Daphne. Astoria and Harry tensed, and their backs' straightened at the same time. Daphne excused herself from Harry and joined Nott a few steps away.

"Daphne, would you do me the honor of accompanying you to the Yule Ball?" Nott said.

At this statement, Harry turned and walked away from Daphne and Nott, walking fast toward the stairs. This action did not go unnoticed by Daphne though she turned to address Nott.

"I'm sorry, Theodore. I must decline your offer," Daphne said politely. "Please excuse me." Daphne turned toward the direction where Harry had just left. Daphne bolted down the hallway towards the staircase. Astoria, abandoning any pretense of hiding her presence, rushed after her sister and Harry. Astoria barely avoided Delores Umbridge as she entered the stairwell. When Astoria burst into the Entrance Hall, she almost ran directly into her sister's back. Luckily, she managed to hide behind her and eavesdrop on her conversation.

"…why did you leave?" Daphne asked.

"Well, I didn't want to disturb you and Nott," Harry replied.

"You were not disturbing us. He asked me to the ball, and I declined."

"You did?" Harry asked, hopefully. "Why?"

"He's not the boy I want to go with to the ball. I…I want to go with you."

Harry's face broke into a smile. "Daphne, will you go with me to the Yule Ball?"

Daphne's face mirrored Harry's. "I would love to go with you." With that, the two turned and walked side-by-side toward the library.

Christmas Day at Hogwarts was a fun experience for Astoria. Astoria loved the decorations spread around the Great Hall and considerably enjoyed pulling some crackers with Natalie. After breakfast, she joined the rest of Gryffindor in engaging in a snowball fight organized by Harry and the Weasleys. Harry was quite protective of her during the fight and always retaliated whenever someone hit her with a snowball. As the sun started to set, Astoria was sitting in the Common Room, watching the older years leave for the ball. Astoria's attention focused on the boys' staircase as Neville and Harry appeared. The two boys looked quite handsome in their dress robes. Astoria whistled.

"You two look very handsome tonight. I hope you have fun!" Astoria said.

Neville and Harry both dipped their heads. "Thanks, Astoria! Neville and I need to head out and pick up our dates. You have a fun night!" Harry and Neville turned toward the portrait hole and exited the Gryffindor Common Room. Astoria's face broke into a huge smile. She could not wait till tomorrow morning when she would find out about the Yule Ball. Her dreams that night were filled with Harry and Daphne twirling around the Great Hall, staring longingly into each others' eyes. Despite Astoria's lofty dreams, the Yule Ball would not be entirely perfect for her sister and Harry.

 **A/N: Hey all! First of all, I would like to apologize for the massive delay in this chapter. Since I last posted, I've become a parent. Obviously, this has taken a MASSIVE amount of my time, but COVID furlough has allowed me some free time. I am committed to finishing this story, and my updated outline is now at fifteen chapters for the full story. That means we are almost halfway. I hope you enjoyed the Astoria chapter. Just to give you a preview of the next three chapters (and prove I have outlined the story), the POV for the following three chapters will be Daphne, Umbridge, and Dumbledore, respectively.**

 **Just as a refresher, this story is AU and follows canon from the original seven books only. That being said, thank you for all your feedback, follows, and favorites even though I went on a hiatus. I also am still looking for a Beta if anyone wants to volunteer. I would appreciate some input on the following chapters, especially some of the dialogue. Anyway, until next time, stay safe and be well.**


End file.
